Of Stars and Blood Book 1: The Silver Path
by JasperLizard
Summary: The clan's territory has been consumed, with nothing livable left. When all hope is lost, an omen is sent: follow the Silver Path. A well-meaning apprentice, a resilient kit, an ambitious young warrior, and an unstable medicine cat stand at the crux of this great journey, in the hopes of finding a new home before the clans perish forever.
1. Prologue and Allegiances

Stormpaw could still hear the fires crackling in the distance, smell the acrid smoke. Ash still hung in his fur, in his mouth, clouding his vision. He was far away from the fires that consumed all four clan's territories, huddled with the survivors in the gathering place, but he felt like he was still back in the heat and the chaos.

"Is she alive?!" Whiteflower, the clan deputy, shoved past Stormpaw, her white fur bristling. "My daughter, is she going to live?"

Stormpaw was too frozen with fear to echo her. Lionpaw, his best friend, had been caught in some burning brambles. Stormpaw had managed to drag her out, but her leg was badly burned and she was unconscious. If she died—Stormpaw couldn't even imagine. _Please, StarClan._

"I'm doing all I can," Cloverheart was trying to keep her voice steady, but even if she was the medicine cat, she was still Stormpaw's sister, and he could hear the fear in her voice. "I—she needs space. You should go help Lightningstar."

Whiteflower, too numb to argue, stumbled off. Lightningstar had lost a life—his first since becoming leader-and seemed dead to the chaos around him. Stormpaw watched as Whiteflower made her way over to the silver leader and allowed him to lean on her. They began talking, but they were too far away from Stormpaw for him to hear through the other voices.

But Stormpaw heard another sound coming from behind him: coughing. _Lionpaw!_ He spun around to see Lionpaw, half-awake and struggling to get to her feet even as Cloverheart told her not to, placing her paws on Lionpaw's golden shoulders to keep her from rising.

"St—Stormpaw?" Lionpaw coughed again, her dark blue eyes blinking open, bleary at first, but then focusing on him. She finally stopped struggling against Cloverheart and relaxed.

"Oh thank StarClan! You're alright!" Stormpaw said.

"All this worry, just for me?" Lionpaw's voice was light, despite the situation. She looked around. "There's a lot of cats here."

"The survivors from every clan," Cloverheart said

"The fire was that bad?"

"The territories were all consumed." Cloverheart looked up at the sky, the moon not visible through the smoke. Stormpaw didn't have to be a medicine cat to know that was a bad omen.

"What are we going to do?" Lionpaw asked, the lightness in her voice gone.

"StarClan will guide us," Cloverheart replied, but like before, Stormpaw could hear the hidden fear in his sister's voice.

...

Robinkit could feel her brother shivering beside her. Their mother was curled around them, sheltering them, but Robinkit could still hear the panic of the other cats.

"Mama?" Sedgekit squeaked out. "W-what's happening?"

"Shhhh," Mousestep gave each of them a gentle lick. "Everything's going to be okay."

Robinkit wanted to believe her but she couldn't hear the yowls of pain, fear, and despair she heard around her. She couldn't ignore the heat and the brightness of the flames she'd seen as Mousestep carried her and Sedgekit out of the WindClan camp. Robinkit realized their mother was shivering too,

"I love you both," Mousestep said, her voice quaking. "So much."

"I'm s-scared," Sedgekit said, in a voice so quiet only Robinkit could hear.

"Me too."

...

"Stay put," Twistedtail hooked a paw around Smallkit, pulling him closer to her.

"You're not my mother," The tiny, silver-gray kit grumbled.

"She asked me to watch you," Twistedtail said. Smallkit's mother wasn't just anyone; she was Reedstar, the RiverClan leader. Twistedtail was a young, unimportant warrior, but she'd been Reedstar's apprentice. That was why Reedstar trusted her to watch Smallkit. Twistedtail hoped that trust would make her deputy one day, but after this fire...she wasn't sure what the future held.

"What about my sister? Where did she go?" Smallkit's bright orange eyes looked up at her pleadingly.

Twistedtail remained silent. Smallkit's sister, Brightkit, had died in the fire. His mother should be the one to tell him that, not some warrior he barely knew.

She glanced over at Reedstar. The gray-brown leader was talking to Lightningstar (who seemed quite broken down himself), but there was a stiffness in her movements and a distance in her eyes. She was pushing down her hurt, though, for the sake of her clan. Twistedtail felt proud that RiverClan had such a strong leader.

Twistedtail swept her gaze around the gathering place. The clamor was dying down. She could see the deputies and the leaders all talking, the medicine cats congregating.

"What are we gonna do?" Smallkit asked. Twistedtail realized what the answer to that was.

"I think we're going to leave," Twistedtail replied, her voice cold with shock.

Woodpaw retched, curling on the ground, despite having emptied his stomach many times already. He could feel Shadestar's paw on his back, trying to comfort him, but he couldn't focus past the horror. He'd seen his mother and sister catch fire, smelt their flesh and fur burn, and he had done nothing except run. How many of his clanmates had died because of him. He was a medicine cat, he was supposed to help, not—

"Woodpaw! Shadestar!" The sharp voice of Lilypetal, his mentor, cut through his thoughts. The tall calico stood over him with the clan deputy, Rainfrost, at her side. "Important news."

"We spoke with Spottedstar." Rainfrost said. "And we've allied with WindClan. Their medicine cat died in the fire; in return for protection, Lilypetal and Woodpaw will treat their wounded."

"What?!" Shadestar sprang to her feet, a fire burning in her ice blue eyes. "How dare you decide this without me!"

"ShadowClan needs allies at a time like this," Rainfrost replied, her only response to Shadestar's outburst being a twitch in her ear.

"You might be deputy, but I'm still our leader!" Shadestar growled. "You can't go behind my back like this."

"Still," Lilypetal said, in a tone of voice Woodpaw heard her use when comforting unruly kits. "This is good. We'll have protection!"

Shadestar exhaled and sat down. Woodpaw gave her a weak smile.

"We'll be helping them." Woodpaw's voice was strained and hoarse from how many times he'd vomited, and he felt a wave of self-disgust. He was still lying on the ground, too weak to stand up. _Pathetic._ "That's the medicine cat's duty. StarClan will smile on us."

As if saying StarClan's name had summoned them, Woodpaw felt a chill sweep over him. He could tell Lilypetal felt it too, her golden eyes widently. An omen was coming. He drew a breath, his muscles tensed in fear, and then-

 _FOLLOW THE SILVER PATH_

The words flowed through him, along with a chilling breeze. He couldn't tell if the gust was real or not until he saw the treetops shaking. He peered up at the clouds and saw—

"Look!" It was Cloverheart, the medicine cat of ThunderClan, rushing to the center of the gathering place, her yellow-green eyes round and upturned to the sky. "The silver path…"

Some of the smoke had been swept away, letting a trail of bright stars show, and a beam of silvery moonlight that pointed to somewhere far away. Woodpaw knew, as every cat who survived the fire must have, that it would be what saved them.

* * *

Allegiances

 **ThunderClan**

Leader: Lightningstar-Tall, silver tabby tom with blue eyes.

Apprentice: Sleetpaw

Deputy: Whiteflower- White she-cat with yellow eyes

Medicine Cat: Cloverheart-pale tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

Jayfur-Gray tom with green eyes

Apprentice: Stormpaw

Graycloud-Gray she-cat with blue eyes

Sandface- sandy she-cat with dark points and blue eyes.

Apprentice: Acornpaw

Oakstem- Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Brightclaw- gold and white she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentices:

Stormpaw-pale gray-and-brown tom with yellow eyes

Lionpaw-Golden she-cat with dark blue eyes

Sleetpaw-Gray she-cat with amber eyes. Missing one ear

Acornpaw-Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes. Sleetpaw's brother.

Kits

Turtlekit- tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes. Close to being an apprentice.

 **WindClan**

Leader: Spottedstar-calico she-cat with pale green eyes.

Deputy: Dusktail-dark gray tabby tom with ice blue eyes.

Apprentice-Applepaw

Medicine Cat

(deceased with no apprentice; ShadowClan's medicine cat and apprentice taking over job temporarily)

Warriors

Coalnose-gray tabby tom with orange eyes.

Rosewhisker-pale ginger she-cat with yellow eyes

Apprentice-Palepaw

Nightfur-black she-cat with amber eyes.

Mousestep-Small, pale brown-and-white she-cat with blue eyes.

Apprentices

Applepaw- Ginger tom with yellow eyes

Palepaw-Pale grey she-cat with green eyes.

Kits:

Robinkit-tabby tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

Sedgekit-light brown tabby tom with blue eyes.

 **RiverClan**

Leader: Reedstar-gray-brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes

Deputy: Stonefoot- big, gray-blue tom with blue eyes.

Medicine cat: Shrewpelt-Pale gray cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

Twistedtail-Silver tabby she-cat with pale amber eyes and a twisted tail

Bearheart-Large brown she-cat with blue eyes.

Redear- Ginger and white she-cat with yellow eyes

Spiderfang-Black and white tom with amber eyes

Apprentice: Poppypaw

Streamclaw-Silver she-cat with pale yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Poppypaw-Tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Wildpaw-ginger tom with amber eyes

Bluepaw-gray-blue she-cat with pale yellow eyes

Kits:

Smallkit-small silver-grey tom with orange eyes.

 **ShadowClan**

Leader: Shadestar-dark grey she-cat with ice blue eyes

Deputy: Rainfrost-grey she-cat with blue eyes

Medicine Cat: Lilypetal-tall calico she-cat with pale gold eyes

Apprentice: Woodpaw-Light brown tom with green eyes

Warriors

Foxclaw-Ginger tom with yellow eyes

apprentice-Pinepaw

Goldendapple-Golden tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Nettlenose-grey cat with amber eyes

Apprentice-Willowpaw

Daisyfur-gold and white tom with blue eyes.

Apprentices

Pinepaw-Grey-brown tom with blue eyes

Willowpaw-pale brown she-cat with green eyes

 **A/N: I doubt there's anyone still following me; this account hasn't been active in a very, very long time. But, somehow, I decided I wanted to write Warrior's fanfiction again. This particular story is based on the very first story I ever put online, which still holds a place in my heart. I have a lot of other projects I'm working on right now, but I'd like to finish this, so, here we go.**


	2. Chapter 1: Where and Why

For the tenth time that day, Stormpaw stumbled.

"Are you _sure_ I'm not too heavy?" Lionpaw said, trying to shift her weight off of his shoulder and onto her injured paw. She swayed, and Stormpaw rushed to support her again.

"It's fine, really," Stormpaw said. Lionpaw was far more robust than him, but he could put up with a little extra strain to help her along her way.

Although Lionpaw's leg had mostly superficial burns, Cloverheart had wanted her to be careful with it, and although Lionpaw would never say anything,Stormpaw could tell by her sharp intake of breath that putting pressure on it hurt.

Stormpaw glanced up to his sister, farther up in the procession. She was still soothing Sleetpaw, a poor young apprentice whose ear had been burned away in the fire. Stormpaw noticed her brother, Acornpaw, sticking close behind her too, and he was glad she had someone to help her.

While he was distracted, Lionpaw stumbled again, nearly knocking Stormpaw over. He braced himself on all four paws, putting all his strength into supporting her, and managed to stop from falling over an eleventh time. This was only the first day of the journey; he was learning; he'd get used to it.

...

When the sun began to set, they all rested, in a little stony valley surrounded by vines, and the leaders talked together. It was decided that it would be best to journey at night, in order to follow the star's path. But they wouldn't leave this night; everyone agreed they should rest, to Stormpaw's relief. He was tired. They all were tired.

He watched carefully as the medicine cats gathered to watch the sky. Cloverheart, the two ShadowClan medicine cats, and Shrewpelt, who he knew little about. After a while, they dispersed, and most cats settled down to sleep. Stormpaw couldn't help but notice how many cats, even his own clanmates, were missing. Sleetpaw was crying out in her sleep, whether in pain or in despair, he didn't know.

A twinge of loneliness stuck in his chest and he turned to Lionpaw, but she was already sleeping. He watched the rise and fall of her golden pelt, illuminated in the dull light of the moon. He was going to lie down too, but he heard Cloverheart's familiar chirping meow behind him.

"Stormpaw! I found something!" Cloverheart said, her voice quiet but tinged with excitement.

"What is it?" Stormpaw said.

"Follow me!" She bounded off, and Stormpaw followed. The other cats didn't seem to notice, even the other medicine cats. Stormpaw saw Shrewpelt looking at the moon, and the two ShadowClan medicine cats were sitting close together, the younger one—Woodpaw, he remembered now—was curled up tightly, as if hiding from the world. They disappeared from sight as he and Cloverheart moved into a crag.

Cloverheart pulled out a strange, spiny plant that was a vibrant green.

"It's aloe," She said. "Raggedear taught me about it, but we never found much of it back home."

"And?" Stormpaw said.

"It's used to treat _burns_ , Stormpaw," She replied. Stormpaw realized why she'd sounded so excited, and a smile lit his face. "I need you to help me carry it back and––and I need the other medicine cats not to notice."

"Why not?"

"...there's not enough to go around." Cloverheart looked at the ground. "I want to make sure there's enough to treat our clan first."

"But–"

"I know, it's bad. But we need it. Sleetpaw needs it."

"Lionpaw needs it." Stormpaw repeated. Cloverheart was silent for a heartbeat.

"Yes."

They walked back with the aloe leaves in their mouths, Stormpaw helping Cloverheart walk quietly. With hushed voices, they woke and rubbed the aloe's thick sap on the burns of their clanmates. Sleetpaw settled into a peaceful sleep, not crying out in pain like before, and Stormpaw understood why his sister wanted to be a medicine cat a little better. _Still_ , he thought, as Lionpaw's breathing settled back into sleep, _being a medicine cat isn't for me._

There was a little aloe left over, and Cloverheart promised to share it with the other medicine cats the next morning. And if Stormpaw saw a wisp of a cloud pass over the moon, well, he thought nothing of it.

* * *

Robinkit couldn't help but resent the lack of other kits. Sure, she had her brother, but she wanted new friends. She couldn't see any other kits when the clans were all walking, which was mostly what they did. Mama took turns carrying her and carrying Sedgekit, but she still got tired. And then when everyone rested, Mama made her sleep instead of letting her play! It was unfair, Robinkit decided.

This was why, one day, while Mama was sleeping, Robinkit decided she was going to sneak around and find the other kits.

"C'mon, Sedgekit!" She mewed, poking her brother in the side.

"B–but...we'll get in t–t–trouble," Sedgekit replied.

"We won't! Everyone's asleep," Robinkit bounded away, and when she looked over her shoulder, Sedgekit was following her.

Sneaking around the sleeping cats was the most fun Robinkit'd had since the fire. She felt like a brave warrior on a secret mission. Even Sedgekit had his ear perked. Finally, she saw a little silver kit, curled up near to a cat with a twisted tail, who Robinkit assumed was his Mama. She reached out a careful paw, and tapped him on the head.

"Wh–" He said, opening his eyes, which were a brilliant orange.

"Shhhhhh! I don't wanna wake up the big cats!" Robinkit hissed. The orange-eyed kit blinked several more times, but didn't say anything more. Robinkit sat down. "I'm Robinkit. Do you wanna be friends?"

"A-and I-I-I–I'm Sedgekit," Her brother squeaked.

"I'm Smallkit," The kit said. "And we're supposed to be resting."

"What, are you gonna listen to everything your mama tells you?" Robinkit flicked an ear toward the sleeping cat. "Boring!"

"Twistedtail isn't my mother." Smallkit said. He looked up at Robinkit. "Reedstar's my mom, and you'd listen to her too. She's a clan leader."

"Why isn't she with you?" Robinkit said.

"She's busy," He said "And she misses my sister." His voice got quieter. "I miss her too."

"Where's your sist–"

"R-r-r-robinkit, I don't think he wants to talk about that," Sedgekit interjected.

"Oh," Robinkit said. "Well...if you miss having someone to play with, you've got us!"

Smallkit was quiet for so long, Robinkit thought he wasn't going to say anything, but then he stood up (and he really was small, she noticed; he only came up to her shoulder).

"Sure," Smallkit said, and then he reached out a paw to bat at her head. Robinkit laughed.

They played together for a while, pretending to be warriors on a secret mission (and this game was Robinkit's idea. She was so smart!) and for once, Sedgekit could keep up. And then Robinkit tripped over a sleeping cat's tail and tumbled a long way. Sedgekit and Smallkit started to laugh, and at first she was mad, but then she realized this was the first time she'd heard her brother laugh since the fire, and that made her so happy that she laughed too.

And then, the ShadowClan warrior woke up.

"My kits?" She said, her voice wavering. "Is that you? Cloudkit, Blossomkit, Gingerkit, are you there!?"

Robinkit backed away from her. The ShadowClan cat's blue eyes were muddied, confused, and her steps unsteady. Smallkit was already running, and Robinkit wanted to follow, but Sedgekit was frozen.

But before the golden furred warrior could get to them, there was another voice.

"Goldendapple! Goldendapple, calm down!" A large ginger tom came up behind her. He glanced at Robinkit with contempt in his yellow eyes, and Robinkit let out a squeak of fear.

"I….I thought they were here." Goldendapple seemed calmer now, as the ginger tom curled around her. "I thought they were our kits, Foxclaw."

"I know." Foxclaw's voice was deep and low.

"They should be here. They should be here," Goldendapple sunk to the ground. Robinkit wondered what was wrong with her. She didn't look like she was injured or sick. "Oh StarClan, where are they?"

Sedgekit stepped closer to her, and Foxclaw, still curled around Goldendapple, slid his gaze back to them.

"You should go home," He said. "Your mothers will be very worried about you."

The noise had woken up some other cats, Mama included. Robinkit expected Mama to yell at her and Sedgekit, but instead she just curled around them, shaking slightly (she was always shaking, lately), and told them they needed to rest.

It took a while for Robinkit to finally get back to sleep. She kept wondering about where Goldendapple's kits went, where Smallkit's sister went.


	3. Chapter 2: Smiles and Spaces

"Don't get so close to the edge!" Twistedtail scooped Smallkit towards her with one of her front paws. Over the past couple days, the path of stars had led them next to a gorge, which seemed only to get wider the farther they walked on it. Prey was getting scarcer and scarcer too. Twistedtail tried not to think about that.

"I won't fall! I'm careful!" Smallkit mewed. "Just cause your balance is messed up, doesn't mean everyone else's is!"

"Tsk, tsk, what would your mother say." Twistedtail gave him a light whack on the head.

"You never let me do anyyyything fun," Smallkit said.

"Fun and dangerous aren't the same thing, Smallkit," Twistedtail said. "Anyway, I can't let you do anything risky. If something happened to you, Reedstar would be completely destroyed."

Smallkit had nothing to say to that, and Twistedtail, while glad of the quiet, worried she'd gone too far.

"...can I at least go play with Robinkit and Sedgekit?" He squeaked out.

"When we stop to rest."

"It's lonely. It's lonely without Brightkit."

Twistedtail felt her heart wrench. RiverClan had been lucky, the luckiest of all the clans. They were right next to water. Almost everyone was able to avoid the flames. So how come they couldn't save one kit?

Brightkit hadn't gotten burned. They got her out of the fire, but she inhaled too much smoke, and without Shrewpelt's herbs, nothing could have been done. Twistedtail still remembered the yowl that tore its way out of Reedstar when she saw that her daughter was dead. And Twistedtail knew that it was only chance that Smallkit survived instead of Brightkit. It could have just as easily been him. It could have been both of them, she thought with a shiver. She wondered if Smallkit ever thought about this. She hoped not.

She scooped Smallkit toward her, but affectionately this time. She gave him a reassuring lick on the ear.

"You'll be less lonely when you're made an apprentice," Twistedtail said. "And you'll see Brightkit again in StarClan, someday."

Smallkit didn't say anything else, but he leaned closer to Twistedtail.

"Do you want me to carry you for a little bit?" She asked.

Smallkit gave a tiny nod of his head, and Twistedtail picked him up by the scruff. He was so tiny and light that it wasn't hard to carry him at all. He was so fragile. Twistedtail wanted to protect him more than anything, now that Reedstar couldn't. She hoped Reedstar would come back to him soon, but until then, she would keep him safe.

As the sky began to brighten and everyone prepared to stop, Twistedtail noticed Stonefoot, the clan deputy, slide back into the crowd, until he was walking beside her.

"You'll be a great mother someday," He said.

Twistedtail dipped her head. _I can't talk right now,_ she thought, _I have a sleeping kit in my mouth. What, are you blind?_

Stonefoot smiled down at her, his dark blue eyes sparkling. He was tall, and heavyset, a formidable opponent in battle. That, and his steadfast loyalty, is what Twistedtail figured earned him the role of deputy. She didn't know him well, but maybe she should, if she wanted to be deputy one day.

"You're very beautiful, you know," Stonefoot said. Twistedtail's thoughts backpedaled. _I don't want to know him_ that _way!_ "Despite your...defect." He continued, glancing toward her tail.

 _Despite?!_ Her tail was bent and broken in three places (she had been born like this), and it was hard to move, but if she could, she'd be lashing it. It had caused her problem after problem, but it was hers, and part of her. _No "despite"!_

Stonefoot didn't seem to notice her amber glare, and moved closer to her. He was about to say something, when another warrior came up behind him.

"Stonefoot!" said Bearheart, her voice cheery. Her brown pelt was very different from Stonefoot's own blue-gray, but the heavy frame of her body and her blue eyes betrayed their siblingship. "You should go back to Reedstar! It's almost time to rest, and she might want advice."

"Um...yes, of course!" Stonefoot said "Thank you for reminding me, dear sister." And with another dip of his head, he walked back to his place by Reedstar.

"Sorry about that," Bearheart said. "My brother's a good warrior, but he's not a perceptive cat. Figured you would want a break."

Twistedtail nodded.

"We're stopping to rest!" Stonefoot's deep voice carried out of the rest of the clan, and they slowed to a stop. Bearheart walked away from Twistedtail, but glanced back over her shoulder.

"If you ever need anything, let me know, okay?" Bearheart's voice was a deep rumble like Stonefoot's, but it was warm where his was cold, and the smile she gave made Twistedtail want to smile, too. 

* * *

Woodpaw had gotten very, very good at not feeling anything.

If he didn't think of himself as alive, just as a medicine cat, he didn't have to think about his mother and sister. If he just focused on herbs, on helping the others, on what StarClan might tell him, he could forget he felt anything at all. Least of all about his sister and his mother. Or the growing fear and confusion in Shadestar's eyes.

"Woodpaw?" She said now, and Woodpaw was snapped away from his thoughts."Are you listening?"

"Hmm?"

"It's time to stop walking and rest."

Woodpaw looked around, and saw that everyone was stopping. It seemed Shadestar had walked back into the crowd just to get him to stop. _That should be Lilypetal's job,_ he thought, _She's my mentor, not Shadestar._

Back when Woodpaw was still a kit, Shadestar had, in fact, wanted to be his mentor. She even taught him some battle moves in her spare time. But Woodpaw had always been drawn to the medicine den, to the smell of the herbs and the call of the stars.

That excited kit seemed like an entirely different cat; the fire had burned him away as sure as it had his family. The only thing left of him was his drive as a medicine cat. At least he could always be that.

"So it is," Woodpaw said, and he could tell he'd waited too long to reply. "I should go check on the patients with Lilypetal, then."

He brushed past Shadestar without looking her in the eye; he couldn't bear the concern on her face. It made him feel like he was about to break open, to feel again, and that would kill him, as surely as a bite to the throat.

"Woodpaw," Shadestar said from somewhere behind him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," he said, not turning to face her.

…

"Goldendapple seems to be doing better," Lilypetal said. Woodpaw sat beside her, bone tired from tending to the wounded of both clans. He welcomed the feeling. Tiredness meant he might not dream.

Two WindClan kits had taken to visiting Goldendapple. It was allowed by both clans as a part of their alliance. They were visiting right now, and Woodpaw did see that Goldendapple looked more alive. Foxclaw sat away from them. Woodpaw could never read his expression, but he didn't seem upset.

"Foxclaw wants to have kits again right away," Lilypetal continued, her tail twitching. "Which is impossible while we're traveling, of course."

"He thinks that will fix her," Woodpaw said. "It won't."

"You're a perceptive little kit, Woodpaw." Lilypetal stretched out and yawned. "You'll be a good medicine cat one day."

Woodpaw was still watching Goldendapple and the WindClan kits. There was nothing wrong with her, not with her body, but her blue eyes were still distant and confused, and even when playing with the kits, Woodpaw could almost feel the unshakable sadness that wrapped her.

 _Maybe I should talk to her. Maybe we could understand each other. Since we–_ And that was dangerously close to letting himself feel again, so he stopped thinking it. But then; _Maybe I could help her._

"Lilypetal," He said. "Do you know anything about healing minds?"

"What?"

"It seems like we should know. We're medicine cats, we're supposed to heal. Shouldn't we be able to fix something wrong in a cat's mind?"

"Is this about Shadestar?"

"What? No!" Woodpaw couldn't believe she'd said that. He'd been looking right at Goldendapple! "I mean about Goldendapple. And Foxclaw. And-" _Me._ He stopped, composed himself.

"ShadowClan's got a plague of batty cats, I see," Lilypetal said, amusement clear in her voice.

"I'm, being serious!" It seemed anger was a feeling Woodpaw could still bear. Lilypetal stood up to her full height and looked down at him.

"I don't know, Woodpaw." Her golden eyes were focused on him, for once. "I honestly don't. Things like that are in the paws of StarClan."

With that, Lilypetal walked away. Woodpaw watched her until she sat down next to Rainfrost.

Then he swept his gaze around the clearing where they resting. He saw all of the cats in it, terrified, wounded, still alive. He saw the space where his mother should be, the space between Goldendapple and Foxclaw, the space separating Shadestar from her clan. And he saw the space inside of himself, burned empty by the fire.

 _All right,_ he thought. _Then it's on me to fix this._


	4. Chapter 3: Dreams and Death

Lionpaw laughed. Rain poured down, all of the clans gathered under as many tiny overhangings as they could find. Stormpaw's fur was drenched and his pawpads ached, but Lionpaw was next to him and she was laughing, and that was good enough for him.

"It's a surprise," She said. "That this didn't happen sooner."

"It's been less than a moon," Stormpaw replied. "I think that counts as soon."

"This'll be good," Cloverheart said. "Revitalize the herbs."

"This will delay us," Whiteflower growled. Stormpaw shivered a little at the intensity of the clan deputy.

"Lighten up, mom," Lionpaw purred. She was close enough that Stormpaw could feel the rumbling of her voice, and he shivered again, but for a different reason.

"We'll run out of food, Lionpaw," Whiteflower retorted.

"Whiteflower," Lightningstar, who was lounging on the ground, said. "As clan leader, I order you to take it easy."

Whiteflower let out a huff and lashed her tail, but said nothing else. Stormpaw smiled. Lightningstar was a young leader, younger than Whiteflower herself, and he'd maintained his sense of humor. His brother, Jayfur, was Stormpaw's mentor, although they hadn't talked in days.

Stormpaw glanced up at Jayfur, who seemed deep in conversation with his sister, Graycloud. The whole group of siblings were known as inseparable in ThunderClan...but one was gone now. Minnowfoot, one of their sisters, had died in the fire, trapped under a burning log. Thinking about it made Stormpaw's heart twist, and he inched closer to his own sister. Their parents had died a long time ago; Cloverheart was the only family he had left.

Jayfur seemed to have noticed Stormpaw glancing at him, and made his way over, nudging through packed crowd of cats.

"Hey, kid," Jayfur said. "How you doing?"

"I'm alright," Stormpaw said. "I wish I could say I missed training, but…" Jayfur chuckled in response.

"Listen–" Jayfur started, but before the gray warrior could finish his sentence, a yowl of rage came from farther away.

Two dark warriors tumbled out from under the overhang and rolled across the rain-soaked ground, clawing and biting at each other. It took Stormpaw a heartbeat to realize one of them was Shadestar.

"Coalnose! Coalnose, you idiot!" A cat screeched from nearby, but Stormpaw couldn't tell who it was. Shadestar was distracted by it, though, and Coalnose gained the upper hand. He slammed her to the ground and bit at her throat.

Stormpaw rushed out of the crowd without thinking, and grabbed Coalnose by the scruff. He wasn't strong enough to pull the muscular warrior away entirely, but Shadestar was able to scramble out from under him.

"Don't touch me!" Coalnose twisted around, and buried his claws in Stormpaw's ear. Stormpaw cried out in pain and kicked Coalnose away. Blood flowed over his vision, the rain making it even harder to see. He staggered back.

"Stormpaw!" Cloverheart came running up. "Why would you do that!?"

"He was gonna kill her," Stormpaw sat down. "And I'm _fine_. He just got my ear."

Cloverheart licked at the injury, and Stormpaw winced in pain, but he could see clearer. Shadestar was hissing still, with Woodpaw beside her trying to calm her down. A pale gray she-cat was yelling at Coalnose.

"What were you doing?" She yowled. Coalnose was crouched in front of her, still hissing as well. "You can't just–"

"That is one of MY warriors, Rainfrost," A calico she-cat Stormpaw recognized as Spottedstar stepped forward. The bulky leader dwarfed Rainfrost, even with the rain flattening her fur. "I will punish him myself."

"Ah, yes, of course," Rainfrost stepped back. Spottedstar swatted Coalnose and began hissing at him, but Stormpaw had stopped paying attention because Lionpaw had run up to him.

"That was awesome!" She said. Cloverheart rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you got your first battle-scar before me!"

Stormpaw felt his skin flush under his fur as she leaned in closer to inspect his torn ear.

"It could get infected, you know," Cloverheart said.

"What, with all this rain?" Lionpaw replied.

"That isn't how it works," Cloverheart sighed.

"Anyway," Lionpaw said, batting a paw at Stormpaw's shoulder. "That was pretty brave. Guess you don't need me fighting your battles anymore, eh Stormy?"

He chuckled. "I can't imagine ever not needing you, Lionpaw."

"Quit flirting, you two! Get back under here before you catch your death!" Jayfur shouted. Stormpaw startled, and lowered his ears in embarrassment. But Lionpaw just gave another purring laugh.

"Race you back!" She said, and sprung into motion, Stormpaw following behind her, watching how the drops of rain shimmered as they beat across her golden pelt.

The rain kept falling as the sun set, and eventually everyone settled down to sleep. Huddled under the overhang, Stormpaw was pressed tight against his clanmates, closer than sleeping in any den, but he liked it. It made him feel protected, and between that his exhaustion, he fell asleep almost immediately.

And he dreamt of stars.

...

 _He was following the silver path. The one in the sky, but he was on it, among the stars, walking on them. He looked around, but aside from the path there was nothing. Just empty space. Dread welled in his heart; where was StarClan? Where was the moon?_

" _I found you," A voice behind him said, and he turned around to stare into odd eyes; one green, one blue._

" _Minnowfoot," Stormpaw said. The silver tabby smiled at him. "Why are you here? With me, I mean, I'm not a medicine cat, don't you want my sister?"_

" _Couldn't reach her," Minnowfoot stated simply. She looked awfully lighthearted for a dead cat. "Not after what she did."_

" _Wha–" Stormpaw thought it over. "The aloe."_

 _Minnowfoot dipped her head._

" _But that–she didn't break the code, did she? She was just helping her clan." Anger burned in his stomach. "That's no reason to cut her off entirely, she's our medicine cat!"_

" _Wasn't my decision," Minnowfoot replied. "StarClan didn't even want me to talk to_ you _." She chuckled. Stormpaw's tail lashed, and all the humor dropped from Minnowfoot's face._

" _Listen," She said. "It's getting harder for StarClan to talk with the living. Right now...you're moving away from us."_

" _Can't you follow us?"_

" _Yes! We are, but...there's something else here. And it's making us play by its rules. We all can feel it and–we're can barely even talk to the best medicine cats and leaders, let alone the ones who've made mistakes."_

" _How can you talk to me, then? I'm nothing special."_

" _Your blood was spilled today. And you're close with my brother. It's in the blood, we think." Minnowfoot's words were more urgent now. "They didn't want me to talk to you but Stormpaw. Something's coming, and we can't give prophecies to your sister anymore. You'll have to do."_

 _Minnowfoot reached out and smacked him right on his injured ear. He hissed as blood began to flow down his face again. He watched in confusion as Minnowfoot bit her paw pad until blood welled. Stormpaw had never expected StarClan cats to bleed. It shone like the stars._

 _She placed her paw next to his ear; their blood mixed, and a jolt ran through him._

" _What did you do to me?" His voice was a croak._

" _We're bonded now. That's–how things work here," She said. "I can see you in your waking day. It's in the blood."_

 _He took a step back, horrified. How could StarClan approve of this–this–he didn't have a word for what this was._

" _StarClan doesn't like this. I'm going against direct orders but," Minnowfoot kept walking toward him, and he kept stepping back. The intensity in her odd eyes burned right through him, he could almost feel it. His heart raced. "It's the only way. Bad things are coming, Stormpaw. I have to keep my clan safe." They were almost touching now._

" _Get away from me!" Stormpaw hissed, backing up further._

" _I have to keep you from falling off the silver path." She leaned closer, and that is exactly what Stormpaw did. He plunged into the darkness around him, pitch black. He drowned in that wordless feeling, fell farther and farther into it. He knew he would never hit the bottom._

 _..._

When Stormpaw woke up, it was night outside. His clanmates slept around him, easy, peaceful. He didn't see Minnowfoot anywhere. Blood ran from his injured ear, and he wiped it away with his paw. On his dusty fur, his blood glimmered bright in the starlight.

* * *

"Mama, what's StarClan?" Robinkit said, as the sun was rising. She could feel Mousestep jolt. Sedgekit looked at her like she'd just put a tick in his bedding

"W-why do you ask, Robinkit?" Mousestep said, the familiar shake in her voice returning. She stuttered like Sedgekit did, sometimes. It was dumb, but Robinkit sometimes wished she had more of her Mama's traits, like Sedgekit did. She wished she'd known her father. Mama never talked about him.

"Smallkit keeps talking about it," Robinkit said. "He says his sister's in StarClan. Goldendapple says her kits are in StarClan too. Where is it? I want to visit them, I think we'd be friends."

"Oh, honey," Mousestep said, her voice straining with sadness. She licked the top of Robinkit's head, and was quiet a long time.

"StarClan isn't a place you can visit, unless you're a leader or a medicine cat," She said. "It's where cats go when they–you know how we eat dead prey? Like rabbits and bird? Cat's can–that happens to us too. We die."

"Does the clan eat _them_ too?!"

"No! No, of course not!"

"But then–"

"I just mean that, when a cat gets very old or very sick or very injured they...die, like that. And the part that makes them, well, them, that part goes to StarClan."

"Oh," Robinkit said. "But...but Smallkit's sister was a kit just like us, wasn't she? That isn't fair. And now he won't get to see her again." Her chest hurt. Why did it hurt? There wasn't anything wrong with her. "And Goldendapple too."

"Baby," Mousestep said, curling around Robinkit and Smallkit. "They stay in StarClan forever. So in...many moons, when Smallkit's old, he'll be able to see his sister again."

"But that's forever!" Robinkit buried her face in her mother's fur. What if that happened to Sedgekit? She couldn't imagine being separated from her brother for that long.

"I know," Mousestep said. "It's sad."

"Y-y-you said medicine cats, and leaders, they can visit StarClan?" Sedgekit mewed.

"Yes." Mousestep curled her thin tail around Sedgekit. "But I'm just a warrior, I don't know anything about that. I wish Flameleaf hadn't died. You deserve a medicine cat to talk to about this." She sighed.

"I-I-I can talk to Woodpaw, can't I?" Sedgekit said.

"I don't know," She said. "I don't trust those ShadowClan cats."

Robinkit felt Sedgekit lash his tail against the ground. He was angry, she realized. She didn't think her brother could be angry. But he didn't say anything, and settled down next to her. She was safe and warm with her family around her, but she still felt cold, imagining how lonely must be. She would be extra nice to him next time they played together.

"Mama?" She said, and her own voice sounded pitiful to her own ears. "You're not gonna die, are you?"

"Of course not, baby," Mousestep said. "You don't need to worry about me going to StarClan for a long, long time."

 **A/N: And now we're getting to the plot. Added the "book" thing in the title because well, I do intend to make this a multi-book series, if all goes well. Thanks for reading, y'all.**


	5. Chapter 4: Little Kit, Little Thorn

Twistedtail woke up to the sound of Smallkit crying. A jolt of fear rang through her, and she sat up, looking over her shoulder. She exhaled in relief when she saw he didn't look to be hurt. He was just curled up, appearing even smaller than usual, whimpering.

"Smallkit, baby, what's wrong?" She nudged him with her snout. He looked up at her, with those bright, orange, sad eyes.

"Had a bad dream," He mewed. "I want my mama. I want Brightkit."

"It's okay, I'm here." Twistedtail rushed to curl around him. "Do you want to talk about your dream?"

"I want my mama!" He keened. "Why won't she see me?"

"Smallkit–"

"Is she gonna go away forever, like Brightkit? I don't want her to go away forever!" He wailed loud enough that Twistedtail worried he wake his clanmates. Her heart ached.

"Alright, come on." She picked Smallkit up by his scruff, and he relaxed. Again, she thought about how much she wanted to have kits of her own, someday. She made her way to Reedstar, sleeping some ways away, her grey-brown coat messy.

"Reedstar," Twistedtail whispered as she set Smallkit down. "Wake up."

Reedstar blinked awake in confusion, her oranges eyes looking first at Twistedtail, and then at Smallkit.

"What's wrong?" She said.

"Smallkit had a bad dream. He wanted to see you." Twistedtail noticed that Smallkit looked a little nervous at being face to face with Reedstar.

"Are you alright?" Reedstar sat up, the confusion fading from your face. "You aren't hurt or sick?" Smallkit shook his head.

"It was scary," He said. "I wanted to see you."

"Oh, Smallkit, I'm so sorry," Reedstar said, leaning forward to lick Smallkit's ears. "I haven't been a very good mother to you, have I? I'm sorry. I promise when we get where we're going I'll spend more time with you." Twistedtail felt like she was seeing something she shouldn't be. After a moment, Reedstar spoke again.

"Did you see any StarClan cats?" Reedstar asked.

"I don't know," Smallkit said. "He was...he had eyes like mine?" Reedstar eyes widened, her postured tensed.

"Did he...did he say anything to you?" Urgency showed in her voice.

"He said his name was Briar–" Smallkit didn't get the chance to finish before Reedstar pulled him close to her with one paw. This was the first time Twistedtail seen Reedstar look genuinely afraid, like in the way a kitten facing down a badger might be.

"Don't talk to him, if he appears in your dreams again, tell me," Reedstar said. "Oh StarClan, I'll have to talk to Shrewpelt about this..."

"What's going on?" Twistedtail asked. Smallkit looked just as confused as she was.

"You wouldn't understand," The gray leader replied. "You're a normal warrior. You don't see things from...other places. Go back to sleep."

"Fine," Twistedtail said, trying to keep the spite out of her voice. _Reedstar could at least give the cat she handed her son off to a little respect!_ But she immediately felt guilt for that thought. Reedstar was trying her best. _And she's my leader. It isn't my job to question her._

So Twistedtail meandered off among her clanmates, eventually flopping down to sleep near Bearheart. She kept expecting Smallkit to come back and sit beside her, but he never did.

" _Would you believe," The StarClan cat said to Woodpaw, her green eyes twinkling with mirth. "That you are the only medicine cat we could get ahold of."_

" _What?" Woodpaw stepped back, and then realized he was on the edge of a great void. He stepped forward again._

" _I'm Honeystar, by the way," The golden-brown she-cat introduced herself. Woodpaw knew who she was, although he'd never met her; she was the leader of ShadowClan before Shadestar. He always heard Lilypetal and his clanmates talking about how much better she was than Shadestar, how they couldn't see what had made Honeystar pick her as deputy. So Woodpaw felt a certain amount of resentment toward her. "In case you were wondering, kit."_

" _I'm an apprentice, Honeystar," Woodpaw said. He realized that maybe he should be more worried about the omen, and followed that up with: "What do you mean, I'm the only medicine cat you got to?"_

" _Did ShadowClan lose all its sense of humor when I died?" Honeystar purred, but then continued. "The rules are...stricter here, for some reason. You're the only living medicine cat who hasn't broken...something. " Woodpaw felt a brief burst of pride. She basically just said he was the best medicine cat in the clans, right?_

" _Don't get too proud, kit," Honeystar said. "I think it has a lot to do with Sandcloud being my niece, too. It's in the bloodlines." Woodpaw winced at the mention of his mother. He couldn't think about her, he couldn't afford to._

" _What has Lilypetal done?" He asked, as much out desire to change the subject as out of curiosity. He knew his mentor wasn't perfect, but the idea of her breaking the warrior code unnerved him. Shrewpelt and Cloverheart didn't seem to be bad cats either, but he didn't know them like he knew Lilypetal; they weren't his clanmates, he didn't trust them._

" _You'll find out," Honeystar said. "It's not my secret to tell. But we couldn't get to her, nor any of of the other medicine cats. Just you, Woodpaw."_

" _Why is this happening?" Woodpaw asked. "Is it because we're moving territories? But many, many moons ago, didn't the clans do that? And this didn't happen then."_

" _It's not just that we're moving." All of the humor went out of Honeystar's voice and posture; her green eyes that seemed bright and jovial now looked at him with rigid focus. "It's that where we're going...there's something else already here. And it wants to stop us."_

" _But what does this mean?"_

" _For you? It just means you're going to have to keep a careful eye out, little thorn. You're the only one who can see omens," Honeystar replied. She batted him on the head, the way a playful sibling might. "But i think you'll do a good job. You have a good head on your shoulders."_

 _Woodpaw laughed a bitter laugh. Honeystar jolted in surprise, but then joined in._

" _Yeah, I've been there," She said, and turned to leave._

" _Wait!" Woodpaw said. She looked over her shoulder, and Woodpaw knew he had to speak quickly. "Do you know anything about...about helping cats who are...whose minds are hurt?" Honeystar purred, and then turned back to face him._

" _I don't know much," Honeystar spoke carefully, placing weight on each of the words. She leaned closer to him, close enough that her breath stirred his whiskers. "But I think it's possible. And I think you asking gives me hope, little thorn."_

 _Before Woodpaw could say anything else, she turned away again, and steadily made her way back into the field of stars._

 _..._

Woodpaw woke up when the sun was setting, close enough to when the clans were to start walking that it wasn't worth it to try and get back to sleep. He glanced over at Lilypetal, sleeping a short distance away from him. She looked peaceful, her sides rising and falling evenly. Not the way a medicine cat would look when they were receiving an omen.

Lilypetal had never felt trustworthy to him, with her carefree attitude and her sardonic humor. How she wouldn't listen to Shadestar. How she never took his thoughts seriously. And here it was, confirmation that he was right all along. It was probably bad to feel smug about that, but it was one of the only positive feelings he'd had since the fire, so he allowed it.

He didn't even think of waking her and telling her his dream. If she was bad enough StarClan couldn't get to her, well, he didn't need her, either. He could manage this on his own. It was all he had.

 **A/N: This is a pretty short chapter, but hey, we're getting closer to the main plot, so at least there's that.**


	6. Chapter 5: Luck and Lightness

The evening air was warm on Stormpaw's fur. The sunset was bright and rich, the few clouds illuminated from behind, and the golden light glimmered on the rocks and sand. On the breeze, he smelt flowers and freshly-killed prey.

His mentor was dying.

Jayfur hadn't gone down in battle like a warrior should. He hadn't given his life bravely for his clanmates, or saved the life of a kit. A few days ago he'd tripped and fell and sliced his paw on a sharp rock, and the wound had gotten infected. Cloverheart had nothing to treat it with. This morning, he was unable to keep walking.

"StarClan, please," Cloverheart's voice shook, over the ragged sound of Jayfur's breathing. Stormpaw wasn't looking at them. He couldn't bear to see his mentor like that. Or his sister for that matter. "Help us, please."

Lightningstar was sitting a long way off, looking at the ground, nearly expressionless. _It's just cruel,_ Stormpaw thought. _That he lost two siblings so close together._ Graycloud was trying to comfort her brother, but he still didn't look up at her. Stormpaw felt sick.

 _Minnowfoot,_ He thought, _Help us now. What good is this bond for if you don't help us?_ It was the first time he'd tried to contact her; usually she just appeared to him, advised him. She'd stopped him from letting Acornpaw absentmindedly walk off a cliff, once. He shouldn't be mad at her now, he knew, but he needed someone or something to blame.

"Stormpaw," Minnowfoot materialized next to him. He could see through her; she looked like a reflection on the surface of a puddle, but her odd eyes still shone. "I can't work miracles."

Stormpaw bit back an angry yell. The other cats couldn't see or hear Minnowfoot, and he made himself look absolutely batty in front of Lionpaw before. _There must be SOMETHING you can do to help him._

"I'm sorry, Stormpaw." Minnowfoot shook her head. "StarClan doesn't control who lives or dies. He's my brother, Stormpaw, I don't want him die any more than you do, but it's just not possible."

A rough cry of pain sounded from Jayfur's direction, followed by the sound of Cloverheart trying to comfort him. Stormpaw wanted to lie down and wail, too, but the sounds of an argument further away distracted him.

"We can't afford this delay!" It was Rainfrost, as well as the WindClan deputy. Whiteflower stood her ground in front of them.

"The sun hasn't set yet," Whiteflower said. "The resting day isn't over." Her face was still.

"It will be over soon, and we'll need to move then," Rainfrost said. "Will we, or will you fools insist on keeping us here?"

"ThunderClan isn't going to leave a clanmate to die alone," Whiteflower said. "And then leave him without a vigil. It's not right."

"Rainfrost's right," The WindClan deputy said. He was a dark gray tabby tom, and his voice was soft. "We can't delay all four clans for one warrior. He's clearly suffering...and...well, Lilypetal said she'd be able to–"

"That is not your decision to make," Whiteflower hissed. "ThunderClan isn't leaving Jayfur, and that's final." Rainfrost clawed at her, but Whiteflower stepped back, avoiding it, and looking as if it hadn't bothered her at all. "Go back to your clans, Rainfrost, Dusktail."

"I know how to help," Minnowfoot whispered in Stormpaw's ear. He breath felt cold. Without saying anything else, she drifted away, towards Jayfur and Cloverheart. Stormpaw turned to watch.

She settled next to Jayfur, who was still wailing, and licked one of his ears, as gentle as a mother caring for her kits. Jayfur quieted. "Hey, mousebrain," She whispered, nudging him. "It's time to go home."

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then Stormpaw saw a pale gray shadow rise out of Jayfur, the shape of a cat. It opened it's eyes, green, and Stormpaw realized that it was Jayfur's spirit. He blinked his eyes, looking around in confusion, before seeing his own body. He noticed Minnowfoot next to him. Unlike her shimmering pelt and eyes, Jayfur simply looked transparent and thin, like an old leaf or a cobweb.

"I'm…" He stopped. Minnowfoot dipped her head.

"You lived well, little brother," She said. "You deserve some rest now. Come to StarClan with me."

Jayfur looked around the clearing, at his clanmates, and then looked right at Stormpaw. Stormpaw startled. Jayfur knew he could seem him.

"Stormpaw," His mentor said. "I–I'm sorry I didn't stick around long enough to see you become a warrior."

"It's okay." Stormpaw couldn't help from saying it, under his breath. The rest of the world felt like it had fallen away. He didn't care if anyone thought he was batty.

"I'm proud of you." Jayfur smiled, and then Minnowfoot nudged him, and they walked up into the sky. Jayfur's pelt began to shine, brighter and brighter, and then he too was far away for Stormpaw to see details, just a glowing dot. A star.

Stormpaw heard Cloverheart yowl, but he stuck still, staring at the fading sunlight and the brightening stars.

…

All of ThunderClan kept silent as they journeyed that night. They held vigil in their own way, even if they couldn't spare the time to stay with Jayfur's body or bury him.

Stormpaw wasn't any stranger to loss; his parents had died together in battle when he and Cloverheart were just kits. But it didn't get any easier, it seemed. Cloverheart looked like she'd had the life drained out of her; she barely looked at him, her eyes on the ground. He made sure to keep close to her, as Lionpaw walked beside him. Lionpaw occasionally brushed whiskers with him. It was comforting.

The sun rose, and they stopped walking. Cloverheart flopped down on the ground and lowered her head.

"Hey," Stormpaw said, laying next her. "It's okay. You did your best."

"There wasn't anything I could do," She was shaking. Stormpaw curled around her. "I knew all the herbs I that would help and I had none of them. I didn't even have any poppy seeds to help with the pain."

"It's okay. He's with StarClan now."

"I wish Raggedear was here." Her mentor, who died in the fire. "He'd know what to do. He's lost patients before, he'd be able to help me."

"We've...both lost our mentors now, haven't we?" Stormpaw said, half jokingly. "Guess we're just a couple of lost kits, now." His sister sighed.

"You know, I think Raggedear knew. About the fire, and dying, I mean." Cloverheart's voice was steadier now, calmer. "That's why he gave me my name so early. He wanted the clan to have a full medicine cat after he was gone."

"It wasn't a bad decision," Stormpaw replied. "You're a good medicine cat, Cloverheart. Even if it doesn't feel that way right now." He paused. "And soon I'm gonna get my warrior name and finally catch up with you, and what'll you do then?" He nudged her playfully. She laughed.

"Wonder what they'll name you," She said. "Storm-idiot-who-won't-tell-a-she-cat-that-he-likes-her?"

"I–well–Y'know, what does a medicine cat know about love?"

"Just because I'm not allowed to take a mate doesn't mean I'm blind. I'm pretty sure even cats in StarClan can see you have a thing for Lionpaw."

"Yeah, WELL,"

They argued and joked well into the day, until Whiteflower made them quiet down so "the rest of us can get some sleep!". Stormpaw didn't consider himself very lucky; he didn't have any strong talents, he missed more prey than he caught. He'd lost his parents, and he'd lost his mentor to bad luck. But at least he was lucky enough to have a sister like Cloverheart.

* * *

"Just because some ThunderClan mousebrain got dead from a rock doesn't mean we have anything to worry about," Coalnose said. Robinkit struggled to get a look at the older warrior; he was walking on the other side of Mama. "We're WindClan. We're better than that."

"I just want my kits to be safe," Mousestep said, not looking at him. Robinkit bristled. Coalnose couldn't tell her mother what to do! He wasn't the leader! Or the deputy, for that manner. Dusktail, the actual deputy, walked just ahead, but he wasn't looking at them.

"H-h-h-hey, Robinkit, calm down," Sedgekit whispered to her.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Robinkit mewed, a little louder than she intended to. Mousestep turned to look at her. So did Coalnose. The dark gray warrior sneered. She stuck out her tongue.

"Coalnose is just giving me some advice, that's all," Mousestep said, bending down to lick Robinkit's ear.

"Control your kits, Mousestep," Coalnose said.

"Quit talking like I'm not here!" Robinkit bristled and fluffed up her tail.

"R-r-r-robinkit!" Her brother mewed. "He's a warrior!"

"Sedgekit's right, Robinkit," Mousestep said. Her voice was soft. "You shouldn't disrespect warriors. Who knows, Coalnose might end up your mentor, and then how would you feel?"

"I'd scratch him," Robinkit said under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing." Robinkit looked at the ground and didn't say anything. It wasn't fair. She hoped _Coalnose_ tripped on a rock and died. Why did he have to be so mean?

Sedgekit nudged her and smiled apologetically, but she just pulled away and lashed her tail. He wouldn't stand up for Mama. Robinkit wished she had a father. Maybe then someone would stand up for her and Mama and Sedgekit when Coalnose was mean to them. When she was a grown warrior she could, but that was forever away. _When it happens, though,_ she thought. _I"m gonna kick Coalnose's tail._

"WindClan has a disrespect problem," Coalnose started talking again. "Don't you think so, Dusktail?"

"I don't know," The deputy said. "I'd like to think we're doing alright, considering the circumstances." Coalnose laughed.

"I don't like this deal you struck up with ShadowClan," Coalnose said. "It was your idea, wasn't it?"

"Their idea, actually," Dusktail replied. "And it was either this or go without a medicine cat indefinitely. And then we REALLY will die of tripping over rocks."

"I suppose," Coalnose said. "I'm just glad Flameleaf's gone. That little slime was never–"

Robinkit didn't even see Mousestep, strike out, but she heard her hiss. When Robinkit turned around, Mousestep was staring down Coalnose, her ears back and her tail lashing. Coalnose's orange eyes were wide, and his nose was scratched, dripping blood.

"You go, Mama!" Robinkit mewed, laughing. Sedgekit nudged her again, but none of the older cats seemed to pay her any attention.

"How dare you talk about Flameleaf like that?" Mousestep said. It was the first time Robinkit could recall hearing her mother angry. "He was a loyal, kind medicine cat. He gave his life for his clan! Saving _my_ kits! I'm ashamed to be in the same clan as you if you're going to insult a cat as brave as him."

Dusktail stepped in before Coalnose had a chance to react.

"I think Mousestep is in the right here," Dusktail said, his tone even. "Although she shouldn't have hurt one of her clanmates, it's equally bad for you to disrespect our medicine cat like that. Walk farther away from her and we can call it even, alright?"

Coalnose grumbled something that Robinkit couldn't fully hear. She thought she heard "scum", but she couldn't be sure. She stuck her tongue out again at Coalnose when she was sure his back was turned to her.

All the rest of the night, Robinkit walked with a bounce in her step, and Sedgekit seemed happier too. Mama, though, walked slowly, and look at the ground, even when Robinkit tried her hardest to catch her eye.


	7. Chapter 6: Sleep and Schemes

**A/N: alternate title: I Promise There Are Gay Cats In This One!**

Prey was _definitely_ dwindling. As the path they walked got rockier and rockier, Twistedtail saw less and less wildlife. As always, she was still trying not to think about it. Smallkit, as always, put a damper on this.

"When are we gonna eat?" He said, in his sweet high pitched voice. Twistedtail sighed.

"When we stop for the resting day, of course," She snapped back.

"No, I mean…I don't see any mice...or birds…anymore." The genuine confusion in his voice made her regret lashing out at him, although he didn't seem to notice her anger.

"You don't need to worry about that, okay?" Twistedtail said. "Us warriors...and your mother are gonna take care of everything." Smallkit nodded, but he wouldn't look her in the eye.

"You know what I miss?" Bearheart said. She'd taken to walking close to Twistedtail. It was nice, to have company, and Twistedtail had to admit Bearheart's large stature made her feel a little more safe. "Fish. I'd kill for a good trout right about now."

"Minnows were always my favorite," Twistedtail said.

"Well, no wonder you're so tiny." Bearheart bumped Twistedtail with her shoulder.

"I'm not tiny, you're just giant!" Twistedtail purred.

"And how do you think I got that way? I ate right!"

"I thought family had more to do with it, I mean Stonefoot's just as big!"

"Denying all my hard work? You wound me!" Bearheart swooned over dramatically, leaning on Twistedtail, who nearly pitched over. The two broke into laughter.

"Quiet down, you two." Shrewpelt, the medicine cat, walked past, rolling their yellow eyes. "This isn't the time for clowning around."

"Aw, c'mon!" Bearheart said. "Yeah, times are hard right now, that's why we need to have good times when we get them."

"Yeah!" Smallkit piped up from the other side of Twistedtail.

Shrewpelt rolled their eyes one more time, and then stalked past, their thin tail switching. Bearheart waited until they were out of earshot to turn to Twistedtail.

"What a stick in the mud, eh?" Bearheart smiled. Twistedtail noticed the brown warrior was purring, and her blue eyes shone in the starlight.

 _Oh,_ Twistedtail thought. _Oh._

She'd never had any interest in toms; she thought that she'd feel different when she got older, but then she became a warrior and it still wasn't there. Sometimes she worried something was wrong with her. But now she knew _why_. This was why. It wasn't like she-cats liking she-cats (or for that matter, toms liking toms, or cats who felt their body didn't align with who they really were) was unheard of, but Twistedtail had never considered until that she was like that. Everything made sense, now.

"Yeah," Twistedtail said, realizing she might have taken too long to respond. Bearheart hadn't seemed to notice, though. "They are."

…

Smallkit had taken to sleeping next to his mother more and more often after his bad dreams became more frequent. Reedstar was intensely worried about it, particularly about the cat Smallkit had mentioned once in his dreams. Twistedtail was curious, but she didn't want to bother Reedstar when she was already so stressed out.

Twistedtail though she'd like being able to sleep on her own again, but instead, she just felt lonely and cold. Today the sun felt especially bright, and her thoughts felt especially confusing. Around sunhigh, she stopped trying to sleep on her own.

She picked her way through her sleeping clanmates, being careful to not step on anyone. Smallkit was sleeping curled up next to Reedstar. Her parents, Streamclaw and Spiderfang, were curled tightly together (she wondered if she'd ever have a relationship like that), and she saw her little sister Bluepaw next to the other apprentices. She'd missed her family, but caring for Smallkit had been taking all of her attention. She considered stopping here to sleep, but kept walking.

Eventually she found Bearheart, sleeping peacefully. Twistedtail gently nudged Bearheart with her muzzle, and Bearheart stirred.

"Hey," Twistedtail whispered. "Can I stay here?"

Bearheart, still sleepy, just nodded, and then closed her eyes. Twistedtail settled down next to her; it was awkward at first but once she'd gotten comfortable it was...nice.

She didn't have any trouble getting to sleep after that.

* * *

"Have you been talking to Foxclaw, Goldendapple?" Woodpaw asked, sitting down next to her. Her blue eyes were still downcast, and her tail lay limp on the ground.

"I just make him sad now, I'm sure," She replied, her voice a whisper. "I don't want to bother him with all this."

"I'm sure he doesn't think of you that way." Woodpaw tried his best to sound reassuring, but his voice was closer to Goldendapple's own monotone than Lilypetal's soothing mew. "He must be hurting too. You should talk to him about it."

"Foxclaw won't stop talking about having more kits. As if that'll fix anything."

"It….might help?" Woodpaw shuffled his paws. He wasn't good at this, but if Lilypetal wasn't willing to try… "But that isn't possible until we reach our new home, anyway."

"Woodpaw." Goldendapple looked him straight in the eye, with a focus he hadn't seen in a long time. "I don't know...I don't know if I want any more kits. What if something happened to THEM too? I can't... I'm not strong enough to go through this again."

"Well," Woodpaw said. "Listen, you don't need to think about that right now, really. Focus on getting well."

"Getting well? Getting well from _what_? I'm not injured, I'm not even sick, I'm just...weak."

"You're not _weak_." He could hear his voice shake again, but he couldn't stop himself. "You lost the worst thing any cat stands to lose, and you still care enough to worry about others. You're the strongest cat in ShadowClan, Goldendapple."

She just stared back at him for a heartbeat, eyes wide. But then she let out a sigh, her shoulders relaxing.

"Thank you, Woodpaw," She said. "It really doesn't feel like that, but...thank you."

"

"Just, um," Woodpaw mumbled. "Get some rest, okay? And talk to Foxclaw. If he…if he gives you any trouble, I'll…"

"Woodpaw!" Lilypetal's jubilant mew came from behind him. "What's my favorite apprentice been up to?"

Goldendapple dipped her head and scampered away as Lilypetal flopped down beside Woodpaw. He swallowed, trying to hide his newfound distrust toward her. He wondered what code she'd broken? Was it an important one? _I need to stop thinking about this._

"Just talking to Goldendapple," He replied. "Trying to help her get better."

"Hmm." Lilypetal's tail twitched restlessly. "Get better from what?"

Woodpaw got up and stalked away before he realized what he was doing. Lilypetal gave an indignant yell as he did so, but he didn't turn back. He sat down near the end of the group of cats with his back turned to her, fuming.

"Calm down, little kit." The amused purr of Honeystar echoed in his mind, and he nearly jumped out of his fur. What was she doing talking to him? He wasn't asleep! "No, don't say anything, they'll hear you."

 _What are you doing here?_ Woodpaw thought very hard at Honeystar, who chuckled.

"I can hear all your thoughts when I'm here. Yes, even the ones about Pinepaw. He's real cute, isn't he?" He was already sick of her voice; honey-sweet, so much like Lilypetal's. She chortled again, having heard that too, he supposed. "The fact is, I'm bored, and mostly helpless, and you're the only cat I'm able to help directly. And you have some anger issues."

 _If you didn't want me to be angry with Lilypetal, maybe you shouldn't have told me she broke the code._

"Who hasn't broken the code?"

 _Me! I haven't!_

"Eh, you will someday." Honeystar's tone evened out, growing graver. "But you need to focus your energy on what you can do, not on who you hate. They're all your clanmates. You need to talk to them and respect them."

 _Lilypetal doesn't respect me!_ Woodpaw's fur was bristled and his tail was lashing. He tried to calm himself; even if he wasn't saying anything, his clanmates would probably notice something was wrong. He didn't want them to think he was losing his mind. Even if that might actually be the case.

"Of course she doesn't. You're her apprentice," Honeystar said. "And it's a two-way street. Trying respecting _her_ first of all, maybe that'll get you somewhere."

 _She doesn't teach me what I need to know. I mean, she taught me herbs but not how to fix cats the way I need to-_

"I don't think anyone knows how to do what you're trying to, little thorn. Talk to her about it. Weren't you just telling that nice queen that?"

He didn't want to admit it, but she was probably right. He relaxed his shoulders and tried to stop bristling. Maybe he should try to explain this to Lilypetal; maybe the StarClan thing too.

Woodpaw looked over his shoulder; the sun had truly risen, and most of ShadowClan was settling down to sleep. He noticed Goldendapple next to Foxclaw, who was grooming her, and tried not to look too hard at Pinepaw, now that he knew a StarClan cat could see his thoughts. Shadestar met his gaze, smiled, and then turned her gaze nervously toward Lilypetal.

Rainfrost was sitting next to her. The pale gray deputy leaned close to Lilypetal's calico form, and Lilypetal lifted her graceful neck to whisper into Rainfrost's ear. For a moment, Rainfrost's gaze fixed on him, but only for a moment, and the two she-cats continued talking.

 _Honeystar,_ Woodpaw thought, _can you tell me what Lilypetal did to break the code? Please?_ But she was already gone. His question wouldn't be answered, not today at least.


	8. Chapter 7: Happiness and Help

Stormpaw was having a rather pleasant dream, without any meddling StarClan cats or foreboding omens. Just a calm forest, filled with the scents of prey, of the rich woodland creatures in ThunderClan's home territory. The kind of prey he hadn't had in the moon or so since the great fire. He was just about to snag a fat mouse when two big paws slammed into him, waking him up.

"Oakstem?" Stormpaw blinked the sleep away from his eyes. The tabby warrior looked sheepish. Stormpaw didn't know him too well, but he was a trusted clan member, as well as Sandface's mate.

"Sorry," Oakstem said. "Sandface wanted everyone in the clan to wake up."

"What's wrong?" Looking at the sky, Stormpaw judged it was a little past sunhigh. He did not relish the thought of losing that much sleep.

"We can't find Turtlekit," He replied.

This woke Stormpaw up. He leapt to his paws. "What? Why?"

"Sandface woke up and Turtlekit...wasn't there." Oakstem's voice shook. "We can't lose her, she's our only kit, oh StarClan-"

"Calm down!" Whiteflower strode past, lashing her tail. "We'll find her. Don't worry. I'm going to go look."

"Whiteflower!" Lightningstar followed behind her. "The ground's unstable here, it's too dangerous. And we don't know what kind of things live here. We can't afford to lose you."

"I refuse to let a kit die because you're afraid, Lightningwhisker." Stormpaw winced; she'd used his warrior name there. But Lightningstar didn't seem to care about the disrespect. "I'm going. I'll be fine."

Stormpaw felt a chill as Minnowfoot manifested next to him. He didn't move a muscle; now wasn't the time to look suspicious.

"You need to go with her," The StarClan cat whispered. "I know where Turtlekit went. I can guide you." _Okay_ , Stormpaw thought.

"Wait!" He called out. "I'll go with you! It'll be...it'll be less dangerous if we can watch each other's backs."

Whiteflower turned to look at him, and for a moment, he thought she was going to reprimand him for this, but her yellow gaze softened.

"Good thinking," She said. "Come on, let's not lose any time."

"What about me?" Lionpaw said. "I can come too!"

"Absolutely not. Your leg is still healing."

"It's fine now, mom, I swear-"

"We will manage fine on our own, thank you, Lionpaw." Whiteflower turned away, and Stormpaw realized she wasn't just being mean; she was worried about Lionpaw getting hurt. Well, he could get behind that. "Come on, Stormpaw."

He followed.

…

Quite luckily, Whiteflower had actually believed Stormpaw when he said he "had a feeling" about the direction Turtlekit went in, and soon they were close enough that they were actually able to catch her scent.

Since then they'd been walking in silence. Whiteflower seemed so intensely focused that Stormpaw felt uncomfortable, and he nearly jumped out of his fur when she finally spoke up.

"Stormpaw. I'd been meaning to talk to you anyway." She wasn't looking at him. Was that a good sign or a bad sign?

"Y-yes?" He replied. "If it's about Lionpaw–I, uh, she's a beautiful cat and I'd never, uh– never take advantage of her–I–"

"Stormpaw. I just wanted to talk about your warrior ceremony," Whiteflower said. Stormpaw felt his face flush under his fur and looked at his paws so he wouldn't have to look her in the eye. _Good job embarrassing yourself in front of your deputy._ "Lionpaw's too. You're over a moon past when most warriors get their names. I want you to know you're not forgotten. There just hasn't been a good time."

"It's no big deal," Stormpaw said. Getting his warrior name would be nice, of course, but he'd had too many things to worry about the past moon to really care about that. He waited for Whiteflower to say something in return, but she didn't, and they continued in awkward silence for a few heartbeats longer.

"About Lionpaw," Whiteflower finally said. Stormpaw tensed. He knew she didn't approve, and how could she? What cat would want their kit to be with a bland, shy, little nothing like him. He should just give up and let Lionpaw find someone who deserved her– "Tell her. As soon as you can."

"What?"

"I know I'm harsh on the both of you, but you're good kids. It's none of my business, but...you never know when something could happen." She was looking off into the middle distance, and her expression was as stoney as always, but her voice was softer. "It–it took me almost my whole life to tell Lionpaw's father how I felt and we only had a few moons together before he died. I always wonder…" She turned her gaze to him, bright yellow. "I just...I want my daughter to be happy I-"

"I understand." Stormpaw dipped his head, and before he could say anything else, he heard a wail.

It was Turtlekit, tangled up in some kind of thorny plant. Stormpaw and Whiteflower rushed forward and Whiteflower began trying to detangle the little kit. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be hurt aside from a few scratches.

"What happened, Turtlekit?" Stormpaw asked.

"I ran away," Turtlekit said. "I wanted to be by myself but then I got stuck here!"

"You shouldn't run away like that," Whiteflower said as she spat out a thorn. "You could have gotten hurt by yourself. You're just a kit."

"I wanna be an apprentice NOW!" Turtlekit wailed. "It's not fair, Sleetpaw and Acornpaw get to train and I don't! And mama won't let me talk to them, I wanna talk to Sleetpaw some more, she understands!"

"Understands what?" Stormpaw said. Turtlekit mumbled something that Stormpaw couldn't catch, but Whiteflower appeared to have heard.

"Turtlekit doesn't feel like a she-cat," Was all the deputy said before finally pulling Turtlekit out of the brambles. The tortoiseshell kit refused to meet Stormpaw's gaze.

"You know you can talk to Cloverheart about that," He said. "Medicine cats are here to help."

"Sleetpaw understands better," Turtlekit mumbled, walking past Stormpaw. "Cause she actually knows how it feels cause everybody thought she was a tom until she told them she wasn't." The little kit shivered, looking embarrassed, "I don't–I wish–"

"Hey," Whiteflower said. "You don't have to figure it out right now. Let's get back to camp and get some rest, okay?"

Turtlekit gave a bleary nod, and the three walked back accepted the rough terrain, toward their clanmates.

…

By the time the clan had calmed down, it was nearing sunset and Stormpaw didn't think it'd be worth it to try and sleep again. He didn't see Lionpaw laying down to sleep, either. With a quick look around, he saw her standing at the edge of the gorge, gazing out at the view. The landscape was getting rockier and rockier each day they journeyed. Prey was getting scarcer, too.

"Hey, mousebrain," Whispered Minnowfoot into his ear. "Now's your chance."

 _It's not important, Minnowfoot. There's so much going on, I don't know what's going to happen._

"You really are a mousebrain," Minnowfoot chuckled. "Didn't you hear what the old lady said? Now more than ever."

Stormpaw took a deep breath and made his way over to Lionpaw.

* * *

"Ouch!" Robinkit squeaked. "What was that for, Smallkit?!" He _bit_ her!

"I'm sorry," Smallkit leaned forward to lick the blood away, but she swatted him! Like she was gonna let him near her after that!

Sedgekit rushed forward to lick the wound instead. "W-w-w-w-we should see Woodpaw and Lilypettal!" He said.

"It's just a little cut," Robinkit said. She had to be brave, like Mama.

"I really am sorry," Smallkit said. "I needed to so you could meet Briarshade!"

"Briarshade?" Robinkit asked. Sedgekit was still fussing about the bite, but she ignored him.

"Yeah! I see them when I sleep. They teach me things!" Smallkit's orange eyes lit up. "I said I wanted you to meet them, and they said they'd need your blood!"

"You coulda explained that before you bit me," Robinkin said.

"Sorry," His ears drooped. "I just got too excited. You'll like Briarshade, they're really cool!"

Robinkit did admit, the idea of getting training early was exciting. She wasn't going to be an apprentice for two more moons, which was basically _forever_ away. And if Smallkit thought this "Briarshade" was cool…

"Sedgekit, do you want to come too?" Smallkit asked. Sedgekit thought it over for a heartbeat, his blue eyes narrowing.

"Y-y-you see cats when you sleep?" He finally said. "L-l-like leaders and medicine cats see StarClan?"

"Yeah!" Smallkit chirped.

"Th-then count me in." Sedgekit held out a paw. He winced a little when Smallkit bit him, but didn't say anything.

They all looked at each other. Robinkit couldn't stop lashing her tail. Smallkit's eyes were almost glowing and even Sedgekit had a tiny smile. For once, she couldn't wait to get to sleep.

...

" _What took you so long?" A deep, rumbling purr made Robinkit snap to attention. Looking around, she could see Smallkit and Sedgekit waking up next to her, but she couldn't see any other cats._

 _Robinkit had never been into a forest before, and she wondered if all of them were this scary. The trees had no leaves, their branches like claws. She looked up and felt dizzy. There were no stars? But there were no clouds either? The only light was coming from small plants, glowing with an eerie light. She fluffed up her fur._ Be brave, _she told herself._ Be brave like Mama.

" _Briarshade!" Smallkit's cheerful mew broke through the silence. "Quit hiding!" Robinkit heard a chuckle from nowhere in particular, and for a heartbeat nothing happened._

 _Then something….someone started materializing out of the mist. A dark tabby with broad shoulders stepped out of the mist. They were one of the biggest cats Robinkit had ever seen, even bigger than Spottedstar, and they had a thick ruff of fur on their neck and chest. When they opened their eyes, they seemed to glow and cut through the mist, bright orange, like fire._

 _Just like Smallkit's eyes._

" _Well," The big tabby–Briarshade? Purred. "Robinkit and Sedgekit, I presume? I've heard so much about you."_

" _Y-y-y-y-y–" Sedgekit stuttered._

" _Yeah!" Robinkit finished._

" _You'll need to fix that stutter, dearest," Briarshade said. The big cat sounded almost motherly, and for some reason, Robinkit's stomach felt sick. "It's unbecoming of a warrior. Hard times are coming for you and your lot."_

" _Don't pick on my brother!" Robinkit squeaked. "He can't help it!"_

" _Hey, don't fight!" Smallkit got between Robinkit and Briarshade. He only looked smaller next to a cat of that size. "I want you guys to be friends! Briarshade has a lot to teach you!"_

 _Sedgekit looked at Brairshade and swallowed before speaking again._

" _W-w–Who are you?" He asked._

" _I'm Reedstar's littermate," Briarshade said, in a matter-of-fact way. "There was a time when I, perhaps, could have been leader. But things don't always work out the way you've planned." They stretched their paws out, yawned, and then curled up on the ground. "I wanted to watch over Smallkit in any way I could while Reedstar is busy. He is my kin, after."_

" _Mom didn't like it that I talked to Briarshade," Smallkit said. "So I stopped telling her. She wouldn't tell me what happened, anyway."_

" _And I would never lie to you," Briarshade said, their eyes daintily closed. Their fluffy tail moved in lazy swipes. "I only wish to help my kin survive the coming storm."_

" _But I said you were my friends!" Smallkit said. "So I wanted them to help you too!"_

" _What are you gonna teach us?" Robinkin asked. She was still nervous, but if Smallkit trusted them, she was sure they were a good cat. A thought sprung up in her head. "Are you gonna teach us to fight!?"_

 _Briarshade opened one of their orange eyes and smiled. "You're a smart little thing, Robinkit. Yes."\_

" _B-b-b-but we won't be apprentices for two whole moons!" Sedgekit interjected. "It's against the code!"_

 _Briarshade opened their other eye, and titled their head._

" _Your silly rules will doom you," They said. They stood up to their full height. "They already have. StarClan's rules were too strict, you see. They cannot get through, because they must follow them. But I follow nothing. There is something else here, in the place we are going, and it holds you to rules, oh yes. Rules of blood and fate and stars. StarClan is trapped in a prison of their own making." As they spoke, Briarshade stepped closer and closer to Sedgekit, looming over him. Robinkit wanted to say something, but she was scared. She was so scared._

" _W-w-" Sedgekit tried to speak._

" _If you stick with the fools in StarClan," Briarshade said. "You will die. The Clans will die. The monster at the end of your "Silver Path" will eat you whole and spit out your bones. So I am here to help you live." They sat back._

 _Sedgekits blue eyes were so wide that Robinkit could see the whites of them, and he was shaking worse than Mama after the fire. She rushed over and curled around him. But she hadn't been there to protect him when he needed it. She was ashamed. Her brother said nothing._

" _I am being very kind," Briarshade continued, after a long silence. "You will live, because of my help, you understand?"_

 _Sedgekit nodded. After a moment, Robinkit did too._

" _Good." The huge tabby stood up. "Now. Let our lessons begin."_

 _They unsheathed their claws._


	9. Chapter 8: Litters and Loneliness

_Does Bearheart like me too?_ Twistedtail thought. _Was she flirting with me earlier? Or was it just a friendship thing? Does she even like she-cats too? What if she finds out and thinks I'm gross?_ She shook her head, trying to dislodge those thoughts. There were more important things to be worrying about than whether some she-cat liked her.

 _She let me sleep next to her, though, didn't she? But friends do that sometimes, don't they? Maybe she was just being nice-_ But Twistedtail finally snapped away from her thoughts when she noticed something.

A drop of blood was on Smallkit's shoulder. It stood out against the pale silver fur in between his stripes. Twistedtail felt a twinge of worrying and rushed forward to lick the blood away.

"Stop!" Smallkit mewed when Twistedtail started cleaning his wound. "I'm trying to walk!"

"You're hurt," Twistedtail said. The cut didn't look to be big, at least. Probably Smallkit's walking had broken a scab open. But that still left the question of… "How did that happen?"

"I fell on a thorn bush," Smallkit said, but he wouldn't meet Twistedtail's gaze.

"Smallkit…I'm not stupid. I know a clawmark when I see one." She felt sick with worry. "Who hurt you? Was it those rowdy WindClan kits you play with–"

"No!" Smallkit said. "Robinkit and Sedgekit wouldn't hurt me. They're my friends."

"Was it another clan's warrior? If it is we need to know who–"

"Not that, either. It wasn't a warrior at all."

"Was it…" A terrible thought hit Twistedtail, and she whispered to Smallkit in the hopes no one else would hear. "Was it Reedstar?" She didn't want to think of her mentor and leader as someone who would hurt kits, but if Reedstar had…

"No! No, of course not!" Smallkit's fur was bristling and his tail was puffed up. "Stop worrying about me, okay! You're not in charge of me! You're not even my mother!"

That stung Twistedtail more than it should have. She of course knew that Smallkit wasn't her kit, but she'd done her best to take care of him. And...and he might be her only chance to raise a kit. Assuming she could even find a mate, two she-cats couldn't have kits together. Her heart ached at the thought of never being a mother. All she might ever have is looking after Smallkit, and he didn't even think of her that way.

Her expression must have been showing her feelings, because immediately Smallkit looked apologetic.

"S-sorry Twistedtail, ," He stammered out. "I didn't mean to– I didn't mean–"

"No, no, it's fine." Twistedtail forced a smile. She was the adult in the situation, Smallkit shouldn't need to be the one comforting her. "It's true. But Reedstar told me to look after you, and _she's_ your mother, so you need to trust me, okay?" He didn't say anything in reply, looked at the ground again.

They walked in silence for a few heartbeats before Twistedtail spoke up again.

"Will you at least let Shrewpelt look at it once we stop for the night?" She offered as gently as she could. "If it got infected, you could die."

"Okay," Smallkit said. Now that'd he calmed down, his tail was drooping.

"Do you want me to carry you for a while again?"

"No thanks," Smallkit said, his voice more tired than a kit's had any right to be.

...

Later, Twistedtail watched carefully as Smallkit played with his WindClan friends. He acted like a normal, happy kit again, tussling with the tabby tortoiseshell–Robinkit was her name, Twistedtail was pretty sure–while the tabby brother followed close behind. He'd occasionally reach out a paw to bat at Robinkit or Smallkit, but he usually missed. Despite that, he seemed happy to be playing with them.

Robinkit _was_ bigger than Smallkit, but she never had her claws out and would let Smallkit up quickly when she pinned him. Twistedtail didn't think she was the one who clawed Smallkit; it was just normal play-fighting between friends. She was glad Smallkit had someone to play with; without his sister he would have been pretty lonely.

Twistedtail's littermates had been born dead, and she didn't have any siblings until her parents had Bluepaw a few moons after Twistedtail was made an apprentice. She often wondered what she'd missed out on.

"Twistedtail!" A chipper voice mewed, and Twistedtail turned to see Bluepaw darting toward her. "There you are! I wanted to talk to you!"

"Of course!" Twistedtail said, happy her little sister was here to distract her from her melancholy thoughts. "Sit down, why don't you?" Bluepaw flopped right down on the ground next to Twistedtail, her tail twitching excitedly.

"I need some advice," She said.

"Okay, on what?" Twistedtail asked.

"I…" Bluepaw leaned close to Twistedtal and whispered in her ear. "I have a crush on Wildpaw." She broke into nervous laughter. Wildpaw was a bright ginger apprentice Twistedtail had often seen Bluepaw talking to.

"Awwww, you two would make a cute couple!" Twistedtail made her voice super mushy, because what was even the point of having a little sister if you couldn't tease her a little. Bluepaw's tail puffed up, but she was still smiling. "But what do you need my help for?

"How do you make a tom like you?" Bluepaw said. _Why did she think I'd know that?_ Twistedtail thought before her sister spoke again. "You must know something, because Stonefoot likes you a lot." Immediately Twistedtail's good mood vanished and her stomach felt cold.

"Does he really? I didn't know," Twistedtail lied. She did of course, but she hadn't wanted to believe it.

"Of course he does!" Bluepaw seemed excited, which only made Twistedtail more nervous. She didn't know–their parents didn't know either–that Twistedtail didn't like toms. Would they be mad? "Are you blind or something? He's always looking at you."

"Oh," Twistedtail said. "I didn't notice."

"So you didn't do anything to make him like you?" Bluepaw asked. Twistedtail shook her head. "Fox-dung. What am I supposed to do to make Wildpaw like me, then?"

"Just be yourself." Twistedtail gave a weak smile. "He'd have to be blind, deaf and stupid not to like you back." She leaned to give Bluepaw a sisterly lick on the ear, and Bluepaw reacted with mock disgust and laughter.

"Okay, okay, thanks," She mewed. Wildpaw walked past and Bluepaw immediately stared at him "I said I was gonna eat with him today so I better go. Bye Twistedtail!"

"Bye!" Twistedtail said as Bluepaw sprinted to catch up with Wildpaw. Bluepaw's face lit up when he noticed her, and they immediately began chatting.

Her heart feeling much lighter, Twistedtail turned her attention back to Smallkit and his friends. They were playing a little closer to her now, and she could hear their happy mews. For one moment, the morning was perfect and golden, and Twistedtail let go of her worries.

And then she saw something that chilled her to the bone.

Robinkit's brother, the slow tabby kit, had a sizable chunk taken out of his ear. One that was unmistakably made by claws far, far too big to be from a kit.

* * *

"What do you mean, you're expecting kits?" Woodpaw shouted.

"What do you think it means!?" Nettlenose spat. Their mate, Daisyfur, stood beside them, his blue eyes wide and hopeful. Nettlenose was curled around him protectively, despite the fact that Nettlenose was the one carrying the kits.

"I know, I know," Woodpaw replied, trying to keep his voice even. "But–but if you have the kits before we find our new home, I don't know what we'll do. Newborn kits can't stand up to the journey and I doubt the others are willing to wait."

"We have three moons, don't we?" Nettlenose's gray fur was was bristling. Daisyfur licked the top of their head to soothe them, which they begrudgingly accepted.

"Less than three moons," Woodpaw said. He looked over his shoulder. Where was Lilypetal? She'd know what to do.

"Go get your mentor," Daisyfur said. The tom was always good at reading faces. He'd have to be, being mates with Needlenose. "We'll wait!" His voice was bright as birdsong, without a trace of anger or even frustration. Opposites really must attract.

Woodpaw stalked off to go find Lilypetal as the sun rose. He hated to admit it to himself, but he needed her help. Even if they disagreed all the time, she was still his mentor and an experienced medicine cat. She'd know what to do.

He caught her scent, as well as Rainfrost and Shadestar's. It made sense that they'd be talking, and he almost hated to interrupt what seemed to be an important meeting, but he needed Lilypetal's help. He turned the corner–

And Rainfrost was holding Shadestar down, her paw on the back of Shadestar's head, her claws unsheathed. The proud leader's eyes were wide and darting, but she wasn't even trying to struggle. Lilypetal sat beside them, her tail twitching in lazy satisfaction.

"This," Rainfrost hissed into Shadestar's ear. "Is what happens when you don't listen." Shadestar didn't so much as whimper when Rainfrost dug her claws into Shadestar's scalp, not even when red droplets of blood sprang up underneath. Lilypetal watched, impassive as ever.

"Lilypetal broke the code," Shadestar wheezed. The terror in her voice made Woodpaw's heart freeze. "She can't–"

"You're not fit to lead, Shadestar.." Rainfrost snarled, exposing her fangs. No one seem to even realize Woodpaw was watching. The wind was blowing toward him, so his scent wasn't getting carried.

Woodpaw wanted to rush forward. He so badly wanted to rush round the corner, claws blazing, and defend his leader, defend Shadestar who had always believed in him, always been kind to him, who loved her clan despite it hating her. But he couldn't. He was so scared. He couldn't take Rainfrost in a fight, couldn't hope to. He suspected Lilypetal wouldn't help him, either. So he cowered behind the rock, just like he'd cowered when his sister had been trapped under the burning den, when his mother had tried to save her.

"If you go to the clan about what you think Lilypetal did," Rainfrost growled. "I'll tell them all what you are. You understand?" Shadestar nodded. "Say it." Rainfrost insisted.

"I understand," Shadestar repeated. Rainfrost let her stand up, and she scampered away. Rainfrost and Lilypetal watched her until she was out of sight.

After a few heartbeats, Lilypetal sidled up to Rainfrost. Lilypetal was tall, but Rainfrost was taller. Just tall enough to rest her head on Lilypetal's, just tall enough for Lilypetal to snuggle into Rainfrost's neck fur.

Woodpaw realized with a jolt that this was a decidedly non-platonic interaction.

"You did great," Lilypetal purred.

"Should I be worried," Rainfrost said. "That you get so snuggly after I threaten cats?"

"You're pretty when you're angry." Lilypetal's eyes were closed, and her voice actually sounded happy instead of smug.

"You're pretty all the time." Rainfrost groomed the top of Lilypetal's head, much in the same way Daisyfur had groomed Nettlenose's.

So this is how Lilypetal had broken the code. Not only had she taken a mate, she was going against her leader. Woodpaw felt sick. He'd trusted Lilypetal, and she'd been keeping secrets from him the whole time. And Rainfrost...Rainfrost was supposed to be protecting Shadestar, not hurting her. And what had she meant about telling the clan what Shadestar was?

He still needed to ask Lilypetal for help with Daisyfur and Nettlenose. But he didn't want to let either her or Rainfrost know that he'd seen it all. If Rainfrost was willing to hurt their own leader, she'd probably be willing to kill any witnesses, too. He didn't know what to do. Even if he hid until Rainfrost left, could he fake not seeing anything?

...of course he could. He could easily go to that place in his head where he felt nothing, showed nothing. The place inside him burned empty by the fire. He took a deep breath and called for Lilypetal from behind the rock.

His mentor skittered around the corner, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry," She said. "I was just talking with Rainfrost about an omen I got!" _Liar_ , Woodpaw thought, but he said nothing.

"Nettlenose is expecting kits," He told Lilypetal. "I need your advice on how we're gonna handle things if we don't find our new home before the kits are born."

Lilypetal chattered away as they walked back to where Daisyfur and Nettlenose were waiting. Woodpaw couldn't focus as she advised the two cats. She was able to calm Nettlenose down, reassure Daisyfur. She was a good medicine cat, but Woodpaw didn't know if he'd ever be able to learn from her again.

He waited for Honeystar to appear in his dreams that night, but his dreams were dark and empty. He had never felt more alone.


	10. Chapter 9: Names and Nurture

By all accounts, Stormpaw knew he should be afraid, or at least worried. Prey was dwindling. Large birds were circling. Worst of all, it hadn't rained in days, and water was getting scarcer. But he just couldn't be worried. He was too happy.

Lionpaw was here, with him. Lionpaw walked side by side with him, her tail intertwined with his. Lionpaw slept curled up with him, and even in the dry heat, that helped him sleep. He could just _say_ the things he thought about her, how beautiful she was, how much he loved watching her hunt, how her blue eyes were enough to drown in, how her purr was his favorite sound in the world.

And unbelievably, impossibly. Lionpaw would say things like that to him. She made him feel like he should be proud of himself. Somehow, this brilliant, golden she-cat loved him back. He was the happiest he'd ever been.

One day, after they'd taking a resting night, he woke up before Lionpaw. Her golden fur was illuminated in the rising sun, and he watched the gentle rise and fall of her breathing for awhile. It was soothing. Eventually she woke up, blinking blearily at first, but then she smirked.

"You watching me sleep, mousebrain?" She purred.

"Y-yeah," Stormpaw stammered. "Is that–is that creepy? I won't do it again, if–if it makes you uncomfortable–" Lionpaw batted him on the nose.

"Don't worry about it," She said. "You sleep right here. If we slept in different dens and you walked over to watch me sleep every night now _that'd_ be creepy."

"I love you, Lionpaw," Stormpaw blurted out. It wasn't the first time he'd said it.

"I love you too," Lionpaw purred. Stormpaw wondered if he'd ever stop getting that feeling, like a lighting strike in his chest, when she said she loved him. He hoped not.

"You kits say that too much!" Graycloud warbled as she walked past. It was clear she didn't actually mean much harm by it. "You're gonna make it lose its meaning!"

"Aw, shut, up you elder!" Lionpaw shouted back just as jokingly. Graycloud wasn't even that old, but Stormpaw laughed anyway. "You're just jealous cause you can't find a mate!"

"Not my fault all the toms in the clan already have mates, or are my brothers–" Graycloud stopped. "Brother." She said, softer than before. The cheer drained out of everyone's faces. Stormpaw still missed Jayfur like a stone under his heart. He could only imagine what Graycloud and Lightningstar were feeling at the loss of their littermate.

"I'm going to go hunt," Lionpaw said as she stood up. She stretched and began to pad away. "Wanna come with, Stormy?"

"O-of course!" Stormpaw scrambled to follow her. He felt Minnowfoot's presence near him.

"Pay attention today, mousebrain," The StarClan cat whispered into his ear. He shivered a little.

 _I'll try,_ he thought at her.

"I mean it," She said. "The shadow of the–"

"Stormpaw, keep up!" Lionpaw shouted ahead of him, and he ran to follow her. She seemed so excited at the idea of hunting; she hadn't had the chance lately. Stormpaw had seen her hunt back in the forest. She was the best at catching birds; she could leap like nothing else he'd ever seen, her back legs stronger than any other cats.

But he and Lionpaw wandered around the ravine and up the cliffside, and there was no prey in sight. No mice or squirrels or small birds, even no bodies of water with fish in them. The only animal life in sight was the shadow of a massive hawk circling above.

Stormpaw was about to tell Lionpaw that they should call it quits when he spotted a flash of movement across a big open stretch of the ravine.

"Lionpaw," He whispered. "Do you see that?"

"Yes," She whispered back. Before Stormpaw could say anything, she took off running.

And too late Stormpaw saw the hawk swoop down, and too late Lionpaw reacted to his warning yell. The hawk sank its talons into her shoulder, but not too late did Stormpaw leap at the hawk. He scratched at with his claws and tried to bite it, grab it. Lionpaw was screaming. He tried to bite at its legs, tried to make its grip loosen, and then it struck at him with its beak and he was knocked aside, back onto the ground.

As soon as he hit the dirt, he tried to stand up again, but he realized that where the bird had hit him was a gash, bleeding heavily. There was a low throb of pain in it that he was sure was about to get worse soon, but that didn't matter, it didn't matter because Lionpaw needed him, he had to stand up–but he wobbled and fell again.

He gazed up with bleary eyes as he saw the hawk and Lionpaw struggle, the hawk beginning to take off, and he cried out again. _No, no, you can't take her!_ And then he saw a blur the color of snow racing toward them–Whiteflower.

Whiteflower's face was contorted in rage, and she was shouting something Stormpaw couldn't quite here. As the hawk ascended higher, he saw Whiteflower pause, and then she crouched, a hunter's crouch, and leapt into the air, legs as powerful as her daughters, even in her thin frame. She collided with the hawk and it dropped Lionpaw on the ground. She landed on her feet and staggered, bleeding. Stormpaw tried again to get up and walk over to her.

The hawk and Whiteflower twisted in the air. She had it by the neck, it's wings furiously beating. She scratched at its face with her claws. They were high in the air, near the top of the ravine, when Whiteflower sunk her fangs deeper in, drawing blood from the neck. The hawk plummeted again, and both it and Whiteflower struck the rocky walls of the ravine.

"Stormpaw!" A voice called, as if from far away. He turned his gaze and saw Cloverheart running toward him, along with Lightningstar and even the medicine cats from the other clans. Cloverheart settled down next to him, gauging his wound.

"I'm fine," Stormpaw murmured. His words slurred, and he doubted it was very reassuring. "Go help Lionpaw. Please."

Cloverheart stayed by his side, but the RiverClan medicine cat rushed away. He looked out past his sister and saw Lionpaw, still standing, rushing toward the wall of the ravine despite the blood running down her back. Stormpaw tried to see what she was running toward, and he felt his blood run cold as he made it out.

Whiteflower was lying on the ground next to the hawk's corpse. Her white fur was covered in red, the fur on the back of her head stained with fresh gouts of it. Stormpaw watched as Lionpaw ran over to her mother and began nudging her. Whiteflower was still, so still. Shrewpelt came to a stop beside Lionpaw and shook their head.

That was the last thing Stormpaw saw before he drifted into a dark unconsciousness.

...

 _Minnowfoot, I'm sorry_ , Stormpaw kept thinking once he woke up. The other clans had finally allowed ThunderClan to stand proper vigil for Whiteflower, a resting day while Stormpaw and Lionpaw recovered. Stormpaw's shoulder was healing up well, as were Lionpaw's back wounds. But she was very quiet now. _Minnowfoot_ , Stormpaw thought again. _Minnowfoot, please._

Minnowfoot must be mad at him. And she should be. This was his fault. If he'd been quicker, less stupid, ThunderClan wouldn't have lost its deputy. Lionpaw wouldn't have lost her mother. He remembered dully the advice Whiteflower had given him about telling Lionpaw his feelings, how she said she was happy that Lionpaw could be happy. She didn't deserve to die.

When the sun set again, Stormpaw sat vigil with Lionpaw, and everyone in the clan. Even Turtlekit was curled up next to their mother, and Stormpaw remembered how Whiteflower had reassured the little kit when they'd said they weren't a she-cat. Stormpaw was side by side between Lionpaw and his sister.

Eventually, as the sun was rising, Lightningstar stood up. His pale blue eyes were tired, his lean frame shaking. Everyone rose to their paws, expecting to go to sleep for the resting day when Lightningstar cleared his throat.

"All cats old enough to…" He trailed off, his voice shaking, and then cleared his throat again. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, meet me at the wall of the ravine." Then he turned toward and walked away. Stormpaw realized he hadn't chosen the next deputy before moon-high like he was supposed to. He hoped StarClan would forgive the young leader for it.

The clan proceeded toward the wall of the ravine. Stormpaw could feel the watchful gaze of the clans around them, see their eyes reflect in the moonlight. At the wall of the ravine was a rock,and after a moment's pause, Lightningstar climbed up onto it.

"I know it's been much-delayed," The young leader said. "But It's time for me to choose my next deputy. Whiteflower served this clan well. I know I will always remember her guidance, and hope that she's watching down from StarClan." Lionpaw winced as Lightningstar talked about her mother. Stormpaw pressed closer to her, and she leaned on him, but didn't say anything. "But the clan must go on." He took a long, shaky breath before continuing.

"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors–Whiteflower, Jayfur, Minnowfoot–may hear and approve of my choice," Lightningstar said, the moonlight glowing in his eyes. "The new deputy of ThunderClan will be Oakstem."

Stormpaw turned to look at Oakstem, who was sitting beside his mate and kit. The heavyset tabby tom was blinking in surprise. Finally, he steadied his shoulders and stepped forward, dipping his head at Lightningstar.

"I'm honored," Oakstem said. "I will do my best to serve ThunderClan. Thank you so much, thank you so much, Lightningstar." His voice was brimming with emotion.

"You are a kind and reliable cat," Lightningstar said. "I've watched you all my life. I know you are the right choice." Oakstem dipped his head again, before returning to sit beside Sandface. Turtlekit raced around him, and he smiled down at them.

Stormpaw waited for Lightningstar to step down off the rock, but he didn't. He lifted his head again.

"There is one more matter to attend to tonight," He said. "One that should have been resolved long ago. There are two cats among us who have proven their worthiness time and time again, but have not yet received their warrior names."

Stormpaw's heart leapt when he realized Lightningstar was talking about Lionpaw and himself. He glanced over at Lionpaw, and she looked back, her dark blue eyes round.

"I regret that they were not given their names in time for their mentor or mother to see," The leader continued. "Lionpaw, Stormpaw, step forward."

It was all Stormpaw could do to not run up in front of the clan like an excitable kid. Lionpaw padded up beside him, their pelts brushing.

"Lionpaw," Lightningstar said. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do."

"Stormpaw." Lightningstar turned his piercing gaze toward Stormpaw. " Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I-I do!" Stormpaw hoped his voice didn't shake too much.

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names," Lightningstar said. "Lionpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Lionfur. StarClan honors your courage and strength."

Stormpaw looked at Lionpaw–now Lionfur. Her fur and eyes were alight in the rising sun, and there was the ghost of a smile on her face. Stormpaw wanted to congratulate her, tell her it was a beautiful name, but Lightningstar spoke up again, and Stormpaw turned his attention to the silver tabby leader.

"Stormpaw," He said. "From this moment on you will be known as Stormspots. StarClan honors your warmth and spirit."

Stormspot's breath caught in his throat. Finally. Finally. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to thank Lightningstar, he wanted to say so many things, but he was frozen with happiness as the clan around him chanted.

"Stormspots! Lionfur! Stormspots! Lionfur!" His clanmates' voices resounded, warm as Greenleaf sun, cutting through the morning mist, up into the sky. It surrounded Stormspots, warmed him, gave him as much strength as Cloverheart's best traveling herbs. Lionfur leaned against him, nuzzled her face into the fur of his neck, she was purring, laughing, crying, and Stormspots found he was too.

* * *

Sedgekit wailed in pain.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Robinkit yowled as she ran toward Briarshade, who had Sedgekit pinned under one of their big front paws. "You're hurting him, you're hurting him, stop it!"

Briarshade glanced up at Robinkit, but still held Sedgekit down. Robinkit hissed and puffed her fur up. Briarshade smiled at that.

"Your enemies will not fight with claws unsheathed, kit," They purred. "You need to be prepared." They pressed down harder on Sedgekit, sinking their claws into his fur. Robinkit didn't care if Briarshade was right or not, that was her brother, her shy, timid brother and he was hurting.

Robinkit looked around for Smallkit. He was her friend, he would back her up, wouldn't he? And Briarshade was his kin, maybe they'd listen to him. But when her eyes met Smallkit's he looked away. He was hiding behind a bush. Robinkit wanted to yell at him to help, but she couldn't get out the words. She guessed she had to do this by herself.

She charged at Briarshade, claws unsheathed, and bit their leg as hard as she could. She sank her fangs into them with all her heart until she tasted blood. Briarshade didn't even flinch.

"Brave little kit," Briarshade said. "But you're going to have to try a little bit harder."

"R-R-Robinkit," Sedgekit mewed. "No don't–"

Briarshade raised their paw off of Sedgekit, but Robinkit refused to let go. They tried to claw at Briarshade, but their fur was so thick and her claws were so little. The dark tabby lifted her up and then shook her off their paw so violently that she was sent flying and hit the ground hard. Her head hurt and the breathe was knocked out of her.

And then Briarshade pounced on her, putting their paws on her throat. They were so heavy. Robinkit could hardly breathe. _This must be how a little mouse feels,_ she thought, _when we catch it_.

"You need to know when to run," Briarshade rumbled in her ear. "Do you think Sedgekit would have done this for you?"

"Y-yes," Robinkit squeaked out. "H-he would if he wasn't hurt–"

"Kin means nothing," Briarshade continued. Their oranges eyes were wide as the moon, their pupils narrow. They pressed down harder. "Your brother doesn't love you. You should leave him behind to die. He'll only betray you."

"No! He wouldn't!" Robinkit's vision was getting dark. Her hard thumped in her chest. She was so scared, so scared.

"Let me tell you something, kit." Briarshade leaned closer, until their whiskers brushed Robinkit's face. "Your sweet friend Smallkit? He's just like his mother. She let me die." They unsheathed their claws more, digging in her neck. "Just like he's going to let you die now."

 _No, no no!_ Robinkit didn't want to die, she didn't want to die, she didn't want to die. Was StarClan listening? She didn't want to die yet, she didn't want to die before she was an apprentice, she didn't want to die before she caught her first rabbit, she didn't want to die and leave Mama and Sedgekit alone, she didn't want to go to StarClan yet. She lashed out with her paws but Briarshade didn't notice.

She heard a wail above her. It was Smallkit, she was pretty sure. He was screeching. He was trying to save her, but it wouldn't work. He was so small and Briarshade was so big. But he tried. Briarshade was wrong about him. _You're wrong_ , she wanted to say. _You're wrong about Smallkit and my brother,_ she wanted to say. _I forgive you, Smallkit,_ she wanted to say. But she couldn't breathe, and she could barely see either. She was going to die.

Suddenly, Briarshade was knocked away by something, knocked off of her. She gulped in air, and then coughed. Her throat hurt the worst it had ever hurt, but she wasn't dead. She struggled to open her eyes and stand up. She looked out into the clearing and saw the strangest thing.

There was a bright orange cat standing between her and Briarshade, and there were stars in his fur. He glanced back at Robinkit and his eyes were a dark, dark blue. He seemed familiar–

It was Flameleaf! It was the medicine cat! She could barely remember him, her memories from before the fire were blurry, but she remembered him carrying her out of the burning nursery and going back in for Sedgekit. His eyes had a warm look, like Mama's.

"How did you get here?" Briarshade hissed. They had a big scratch on their shoulder and were crouched down in front of him. "The code–"

"Briarshade," Flameleaf said. "Why are you hurting these kits?"

"I'm only doing what's best for the clans," Briarshade growled. "What's best for Smallkit. He is my kin. I don't want him to turn out like his simpering mother."

"So you kill his friends?" There was something in Flameleaf's voice, some kind of hurt that Robinkit couldn't place. "That's not the way to teach and–and hurting kits is the worst thing a cat could do. You are as evil as this place." Briarshade laughed.

"You say evil," They said. "I say free." Briarshade stood up to their full height again. "The clans are weak and pathetic and they are going to die soon. All of them." They started laughing again, a raspy sound.

"If you lay a claw on these kits again," Flameleaf said. "I will always be there to fight you. I'll kill you."

"You can't fight, pretty boy. You're a medicine cat. Or is that another part of the code you broke?"

"Leave." Flameleaf stepped closer to Briarshade, and they stepped back. They snarled.

"I'll win. You'll see." Briarshade turned tail and ran into the forest. As soon as they

disappeared, Flameleaf turned back toward Robinkit, running over to her.

"Robinkit," He said. "Can you speak?"

"Yeah," She said. Her voice was a croak. Her throat hurt, hurt, hurt. Sedgekit ran toward her, still wailing. Smallkit stayed away, looking guilty.

"Hang on." Flameleaf went into the bushes behind Robinkit for a heartbeat, and came back holding a bundle of herbs. He lay it down on the ground and motioned a sticky chunk of something toward Robinkit. "Have some of this. It will help your throat."

Robinkit licked some of the tasteless liquid off the waxy chunk. Her throat did feel a little better, so she licked up the rest.

"W-w-what is that?" Sedgekit asked, looking up at Flameleaf.

"It's honey," Flameleaf purred. "It's good for the throat." Robinkit didn't feel all the way better, but it had helped so much, and she was grateful.

"And these other herbs?" Sedgekit sounded genuinely excited. "What do they all do?"

"I'd love to tell you." Flameleaf looked down at Sedgekit, smiling softly. "But you kits need to wake up now." He stood up and gave Sedgekit a brief lick on the head, and did the same for Robinkit. "I'll always protect you as best I can."

Then he gathered up his herbs and walked into the woods. As soon as he was gone, Robinkit woke up.

 **A/N: This chapter ended up waaay longer than I expected but, a lot had to happen in it. Sorry for the long wait, hopefully this mammoth chapter makes for it a bit. Also this is about halfway through the first book, so that's exciting! Hope you enjoy.**


	11. Chapter 10: Observations and Omens

"Smallkit, please," Twistedtail said, padding behind her charge. The sun was rising and the clans were about to rest. "Just tell me what's wrong? Please."

The silver kit didn't say anything, and didn't even look at her. How did he go from a good-natured kit to a silent specter so quickly? How didn't Reedstar notice? How did his WindClan friend get that slice taken out of his ear?

Was there anything Twistedtail could have done to stop it?

"Leave me alone," Smallkit muttered.

"You're hurt!" Twistedtail said. "I _know_ something bad is happening, Smallkit. I just want to help."

"Shut up!" He glanced at her over her shoulder. "Shut up!"

"Don't speak to me that way! I'm a warrior, you need to respect me."

"No, I don't!" Smallkit spat. "Reedstar's my mom, I–"

"Your mother would want to know if you were hurting." Twistedtail lowered her voice.

"No, she wouldn't." Smallkit's voice was laden with misery, all traces of his former anger gone. He slowed enough that Twistedtail that could walk up beside him, and she felt a jolt of shame for yelling at him earlier. He really was just a kit.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I'm here to talk if…"

"Please just leave me alone," Smallkit murmured, and Twistedtail kept silent for the rest of the night.

Against her better judgement, Twistedtail continued to try and figure out what was happening. She didn't press Smallkit any further, so she tried to pay more attention to the WindClan kits he was friends with. Which I was hard to do without feeling creepy.

But they were both injured. Frequently. She kept wanting to tell Shrewpelt to try and treat them, since WindClan had no medicine cat, but she knew that was the business of ShadowClan, not RiverClan. Still, she thought that Shrewpelt could maybe do better than that dusky brown apprentice, who always had a tired look about him.

The alliance between ShadowClan and WindClan seemed to be going smoothly, though. Maybe too smoothly. Twistedtail was always catching sight of a gold-colored she-cat worrying after the WindClan kits as if they were her own. Twistedtail considered asking her, but ShadowClan and RiverClan weren't really on good terms. She felt like she'd hit a dead end.

Kits were being hurt and she couldn't do anything about it. What kind of mother would that make her?

One day, after seeing nothing new, she was stirred by Bearheart sitting on the ground beside her.

"Watcha watching?" Bearheart chirped. Twistedtail startled.

"Nothing," she said. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Y'know...stuff." She glanced over at Bearheart and immediately glanced away. How did just being near Bearheart feel like so much? They weren't even touching. She tried to distract herself. "Like...our new home, I guess. I'm worried."

"I'm sure it'll be good," Bearheart said it like it was simple, like it was guaranteed, her face upturned to the sky. "StarClan is guiding us."

 _But are we going to last long enough to find it?_ Twistedtail didn't say. She didn't think Bearheart needed to hear her pessimism, but the clans could barely scrounge together a few scrawny mice and lizards for prey, and they had to drink from shallow, muddy puddles. Twistedtail didn't want to admit it, but she was scared.

"Hey." Bearheart nudged her on the shoulder, her voice suddenly gentle. "You look like you could use some cheering up." Twistedtail didn't much feel like smiling, but Bearheart's grin was so sincere and good-natured, she couldn't help but return it. "Anything I can do to help with that?"

"Well…" Twistedtail thought for a moment. She considered confessing to Bearheart right then and there, but she couldn't take the stress of being rejected right now. "...I know you were an apprentice moons before I was, so we didn't really spend a lot of time together, like friends do. So do you think…"

"Yeah?" Bearheart replied. Twistedtail grinned.

"You feel like getting some exercise?" Twistedtail said. She stood up, and Bearheart seemed puzzled, but as Twistedtail began to run, Bearheart's eyes lit up.

"It's not fair!" Beartheart called out behind Twistedtail, who was running as fast as she could. It was good to just focus on running. She could lose herself in it, forget all her worries. "You're way faster than me!"

"Hmm," Twistedtail called back, between breaths. "Maybe try being less heavy?" Bearheart barked out a laugh at that.

Soon they were both tired, and the others were started to settle down to sleep. Twistedtail slowed to a stop, out of breath, and after a few heartbeats, Bearheart walked up to her.

"Got you," She said, patting Twistedtail with her paw. She flopped down on her side and stretched out her legs. "Haven't run like that since I was an apprentice."

"We'll have to fix that!" Twistedtail chirped. She wanted to get closer to Bearheart, to bury her face in Bearheart's brown fur, but she just lay down beside her. "Not today, though. Today we need to sleep."

And she fell asleep, quite easily and happily, and slept well.

Up until the sun set and she was awoken by the wails of her clanmates. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong. She glanced over at Shrewpelt, who was staring up, and she followed their gaze, until she realized, with a sick drop of her stomach, that the path of stars had simply stopped.

* * *

 _Honeystar,_ Woodpaw thought with all his might. _Honeystar, please._ He was pacing around in a circle. The buzz of panicked voices had turned into a despondent silence. Had StarClan abandoned them? He certainly couldn't get ahold of Honeystar.

If StarClan had abandoned them, maybe that was the right thing to do. If all the medicine cats had broken the code, maybe they did all deserve to die here. Woodpaw stopped pacing and swallowed, his throat dry. In the distance, he could hear Goldendapple saying something in a low voice. When he looked back, he saw her and a white-and-brown WindClan she-cat conversing. Robinkit and Sedgekit's mother.

Maybe all the medicine cats deserved to die. Maybe Woodpaw deserved to die. But these kits didn't. He had to figure something out. Where was Lilypetal?

She wasn't around the clearing, but Woodpaw could track her by scent, and he eventually found her under an overhanging rock, talking furiously with Rainfrost. Woodpaw stepped closer, and then remembered how coldy Rainfrost had looked at Shadestar when she had the dark gray leader pinned on the ground. From the tone of their voices, he could tell they were being romantic again. Unwilling to unmask them, he turned around, and decided to look for Shadestar instead.

The ShadowClan leader was much easier to find. She was in the middle of a bustle of cats, mostly the other leaders and deputies. Woodpaw waiting on the edge of the huddle, observing. Shadestar was stammering, but the ThunderClan leader looked on the verge of collapse, and the brown-gray RiverClan leader was looking at the ground. Only Spottedstar seemed to have a grasp on herself, and she was standing over the other leaders, explaining in measured tones what she thought they should do.

"We shouldn't stay here," She said. "But we should try and climb over the ravine wall and see what's on the other side. If the trail ends here, clearly StarClan wants us to stop here."

"Can we get our kits over the wall?" The RiverClan leader–Reedstar, Woodpaw remembered–rasped. "Our elderly? And who knows what could be on the other side. We could be leading ourselves into the jaws of foxes!"

"Maybe we could–" Shadestar started to say, but she stopped herself as the silvery ThunderClan leader opened his mouth. _No_ , Woodpaw wanted to say. _Let her talk._ But he had no place here.

"Has there been an omen?" The ThunderClan leader said. His voice was thin and flat. "...has anybody gotten an omen, at all? I haven't since–since the fire–"

"Me neither," Shadestar finally added.

"I have seen nothing," Spottedstar added. "And Flameleaf now walks with StarClan himself." Every cat looked at Reedstar, who cleared her throat.

"No," She said. "Nothing from StarClan."

"I…" Woodpaw spoke without thinking, and when all of the leaders turned their eyes toward him, his heart skipped a beat. He shouldn't have. "I've received omens since the fire. But nothing about this."

"Woodpaw," Shadestar said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think you would believe me." Woodpaw took a step back. "From–from Honeystar! I don't know why she spoke to me and not–not anyone else." Which was a lie, but he didn't want to accuse every leader in the clans of being a dirty lying code-breaker, despite the fact that apparently, they were. "I've been trying to see her again but I can't reach her."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and Woodpaw thought they were about to yell at him and accuse him of making things up, but instead they just blinked at him.

"She said–she said it's in the blood," He managed to stammer out after a few heartbeats. "And she told me to keep an eye out but–that's all. That's all I know."

"It's better than nothing," Shadestar said. "Woodpaw, you should try to sleep. Maybe you'll see her again. She'll know what to do. Honeystar always knew what to do."

"In the meantime," Spottedstar continued. "I think perhaps we should send a scouting party over the wall of the ravine. WindClan will contribute, but it's up to you all if you want to contribute any warriors."

"May I recommend someone?" A cold voice came from behind the leaders. Rainfrost.

"Rainfrost! H-how long have you been listening?" Shadestar stepped back to allow her deputy into the circle. Rainfrost sat down and swept her gaze over the other leaders.

"Coalnose," Rainfrost said. "We've been hunting together. He's hardy, and nimble.I think he would make a good scout."

"He is _my_ warrior," Spottedstar growled, locking eyes with Rainfrost. "Not yours to command."

"Am I wrong?" Rainfrost's voice remained steady. "From my own clan...if Nettlenose wasn't expecting kits, I would send them, but since they are...Foxclaw would do." Shadestar did not speak up to contest that. Woodpaw wanted to claw Rainfrost. _You're not leader yet! Stop acting like Shadestar's already gone to StarClan!_

"So we're just going along with Spottedstar's plan, then?" Reedstar said. "You're deciding for us?"

"I think it's a good idea," The ThunderClan leader said. "We send strong and capable warriors, so if its bad over the ravine, they will be more likely to survive and come back. In the meantime, we can stay here."

"You don't have to contribute, Reedstar," Rainfrost drawled, grooming one of her paws.

"No, I will," Reedstar snapped back. "I just need to decide who to send."

Woodpaw turned to leave, an awful feeling churning in his stomach. He just needed to sleep. Then maybe Honeystar would tell him what to do. He shuffled away, but was startled by Shadestar coming up behind him.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I don't know," Woodpaw said. "I–I'm scared." He fought off the urge to wail, and tried to swallow down his feelings. His legs were shaking.

"It's going to be okay," Shadestar sat down beside him. He wanted to lean against her for support, but he wasn't a kit anymore, and she wasn't even his mother. She wasn't his mentor, like she'd wanted to be when Woodpaw still thought he might be a warrior. "StarClan wouldn't just abandon us."

"Maybe they didn't," He finally said. "Maybe they just can't find us." He paced away, not looking back at Shadestar's face.

...

 _Woodpaw opened his eyes. He was in the void as before, but this time the path of stars was blurry, a grey rather than a silver. He looked around desperately for Honeystar, but saw nothing except a figure in the distance. But its pelt was pale and dappled, not the gold of Honeystar's. He ran over anyway._

 _It was Lilypetal, facing away from him, but she didn't look right. He stood in front of her, but her eyes were empty._

" _Lilypetal?" He murmured. The image lifted its head a little._

" _There's nothing over there," It said, quietly. "There's nothing."_

 _Woodpaw glanced over his shoulder, but he didn't see nothing. He saw red. Blood red, gnashing like a fire, like currents, little tendrils of red. He blinked, and when his eyes opened again, he saw something even worse:_

 _His clanmates, in the haze of red, drowning, strangled. Shadestar among them, but Rainfrost too, and he saw now, more and more and more._

" _Lilypetal," He hissed. "We have to help them! We have to!"_

 _He waited for the image of his mentor to respond, but she didn't, and as he backed up again, he felt her paws on his shoulders, and she pushed him over, into the forest of red._

 _The thick strings of red latched into Woodpaw's fur, around his neck, dragging at his paws. He called out for help as things continued tangling, the red fire around him not hot like an ember, but like a fever. All his thrashing only entrenched him more. He let himself get dragged deeper and deeper, before he felt teeth in his scruff._

" _Not yet," A voice he recognized as Honeystar said, muffled by his fur. "We're not giving up that easily."_

 _She hauled his upper half out of the thicket and he grabbed onto her fur to keep from slipping back down. She didn't seem to care about his claws being out._

" _Little thorn," Honeystar spoke. He thought he'd heard her serious before, but he hadn't. Not like this. She spoke like thunder followed at her feet. He understood why everyone said she had been a good leader. "It's not your time, and it is not the clan's time either. The four will go into the thicket and you must be wary of what comes back, for there are things out here older and worse than anything inside your old skies. The Silver Path has not left you. You understand?"_

" _Yes," Woodpaw said, and then, because he couldn't stop himself: "Honeystar, please help. Please, please don't leave–"_

" _I will see you when you have found your path," She said. "Keep yourself sharp until then."_

 _And then the thorns around him turned to water, a great tide overwhelming him–no, no it wasn't water, it was_ blood–

Woodpaw woke with a start, and heaved. He couldn't catch his breath. He coughed on the ground and when he opened his eyes he saw what was spattered on his paws.

Blood.


End file.
